Africa at 69th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings in June

Forty two (42) young scientists from fourteen (14) African countries will participate in the 2019 edition of the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings scheduled for June 30 – July 05, 2019 in Lindau, Germany.

The African scientists are from Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Rwanda, Sudan, Mozambique, Kenya. The rest are from Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, Mauritius, Cameroon, Zimbabwe and South Africa.

In a statement, the Council for the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings said it has dispatched letters of acceptance to some 580 young scientists from 88 countries on Wednesday. These young scientists will come together with 42 Nobel Laureates for the annual Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings .

This year’s 69th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting is dedicated to physics. Key topics are cosmology, laser physics and gravitational waves.

According to the statement, the young scientists are outstanding undergraduates, PhD students and post-doctoral students under the age of 35, conducting research in the field of physics. They have successfully passed a multi-stage international selection process. About 140 science academies, universities, foundations and research-oriented companies contributed to the nominations.

“Considering the excellent group of applicants, the selection proved to be very challenging,” says Rainer Blatt, a member of the Council and one of two Scientific Chairmen for this year’s meeting.

As usual, the group of participants will be extremely diverse, the Council said. For the first time, Mozambique and the Dominican Republic will be represented. This is in addition to major research nations such as the US, the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan and Israel. ‘‘The percentage of women among the participants is 34 percent, which is good by international standards, considering that in physics men are still clearly in the majority,” Blatt emphasized.

The Council said several young scientists will have the opportunity to present their own research to the Nobel Laureates. New programme formats introduced in 2018, including the Agora Talks during which one laureate engages with the audience, will continue in 2019. There will also be Science Walks. One Nobel Laureate and ten young scientists will get the opportunity for informal discussions during a walk in Lindau and the surrounding area.

Among the 42 participating laureates are the 2018 Nobel Laureates in Physics, Donna Strickland and Gérard Mourou. Eight further laureates will come to Lindau for the first time. South Africa, this year’s host nation, will present itself as a research nation on the International Day, traditionally the Monday of the meeting week.

The Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings has since 1951 been offering scientists vast opportunities to inspire and network with one another.

Photo Credit: Ch. Flemming/Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings