Countess Bettina Bernadotte, President of the Council for the Nobel Laureate Meetings, opened the 60th Meeting of Nobel Laureates in Lindau on Sunday. From now until Friday, July 2, 59 Nobel Laureates and 650 highly talented young researchers from all over the world come together for a week of personal encounters and an exchange of ideas about the future of science and society. Cosmology and the highly anticipated initial results from CERN, the future of biomedicine, and questions about energy and sustainability are the major themes of this year’s interdisciplinary Meeting.
Nobel Laureates from the disciplines of Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, and Physics are attending. It is the third interdisciplinary Meeting after 2000 and 2005. Never before have so many Nobel Laureates gathered in Lindau for a scientific exchange with the upcoming generation of scientists. In her opening speech, Countess Bettina Bernadotte highlighted that the interdisciplinary approach can best address the complexity of science’s open questions. “It is a pleasure that over the past 10 years Nobel Laureates and young researchers have come the third time for an interdisciplinary exchange in order to push beyond the borders of scientific disciplines and to gain inspiration for their own scientific research,” said the President of the Council, Countess Bettina Bernadotte.
The opening ceremony of the 60th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting was also the occasion to recognize the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Foundation Lindau Nobelprizewinners Meetings at Lake Constance. Countess Bettina Bernadotte graciously acknowledged the Chairman of the Foundation, Professor Wolfgang Schürer, for his tireless efforts. The Foundation, said the Countess, has not only secured the financial future of the Lindau Meetings but also enabled it to broaden its international presence. An international network of 200 Academic Partners – academies of science, ministries of economics, international foundations as well as prestigious universities – nominates participants for the Lindau Meeting. More than 20,000 young researchers applied this year.
During the course of the opening ceremony the Foundation Lindau Nobelprizewinners Meetings at Lake Constance inducted three new members to its Honorary Senate, which brings together personalities from science, business and politics, and advises the Foundation Board. The Foundation, whose Founders Assembly includes 232 Nobel Laureates, honours Her Royal Highness, Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn (Thailand), Dr. Christof Bosch and Prof. Dr. Annette Schavan for their commitment to the promotion of science and research, as well as dialogue between the scientific community and society.
The Foundation Lindau Nobelprizewinners Meetings, Mars Incorporated, and the Nature Publishing Group (NPG) are collaborating to make the 2010 meeting the most interactive ever. Blogs, Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube are coming together on a special Media Website http://lindau.nature.com. Young researchers from all over the world can suggest and vote for questions they would like to be put to the Nobel Laureates attending the Lindau Meeting. An international team of bloggers is reporting on the meeting and is looking for the answers. This enables young researchers worldwide to participate in the meeting online.
