Learning from Nobel Laureates

Imagine for a moment that you could attend a scientific conference with the most distinguished scientists of the world, all of them Nobel Prize winners, who made groundbreaking discoveries that shaped your field. Imagine that conference would not attempt to satisfy the usual scientific craving for the latest results in a specialized discipline, but instead is dedicated to very general topics relevant for all scientists, in particular young scientists at early stages in their careers. Imagine you could decide freely which topics you would like to discuss with the Nobel Laureates or even go for a walk asking him or her the questions that have been burning inside you for years. A conference that brings together the most distinguished senior scientists and the next generation, providing the opportunity for them to connect, inspire and learn from each other, yet small enough to meet nearly everyone participating. If that sounds like a scenario from an ideal world, then you should look to Lindau, a small, medieval town at the eastern tip of Lake Constance in southern Germany, where this utopia becomes reality every summer.

Since 1951, Lindau hosts the world’s most unique scientific conference. For one whole week, the city is transformed into the scientific capital of the world. In 2018, 39 Nobel Laureates, mainly of Physiology and Medicine, met with 600 young scientists from 84 countries and I was very fortunate to be among them. The meeting was held in the Inselhalle, a modern, light-flooded building overlooking a small marina, the lake, and a sunny adjacent square with white garden armchairs and flat tables. The generous and friendly foyers and hallways inside and the spacious grounds of the Inselhalle generate a feeling of calm and airiness that facilitate chance encounters. The program followed the same motif - clearly designed to foster an exchange between the generations.

In the mornings, the Nobel Laureates gave short lectures with topics entirely of their own choosing, but often concerning their great discoveries. For us students, this provided the spectacular opportunity to learn about some of the most groundbreaking discoveries in biology not from a textbook – as we usually do – but from the very person who made the discovery. Stories of discovery were spiced-up with the occasional anecdote and personal memory. In neuroscience, for example, no living scientist has contributed more to our understanding of the brain than Swedish Nobel Laureate Torsten Wiesel. His shared discovery with David Hubel on the organization of the visual cortex are standard material for every introductory neuroscience class. Receiving one of Wiesel’s very rare presentations on his life’s work and his collaboration with Hubel was an absolute privilege for me. It was a unique experience, which not very many neuroscientists get to share.

The central topics raised at the meeting concerned issues that all scientists face today and were mostly addressed in panel discussions that featured Laureates, experts, and young scientists. Laureate Randy Schekman, who is the current editor of eLife, Laureate Harold Varmus and others fought a fierce battle on stage with the CEO of Springer Nature over the current (mis-) developments in the publication process and how we ought to change it for the better. Laureates Steven Chu, Peter Doherty and others discussed the role and responsibility of science in a time of ‘alternative facts’ and the emerging post-factual era, at the brink of which we might be standing. From Laureate Martin Chalfie, one of the co-developers of green fluorescent protein (GFP), we learned how to write the perfect post-doc application and about the pitfalls young scientists face when starting their own group.