Tag Archives: Nobel

Mentoring: The perspective of Nobel Laureates

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The first of a three-part series on the mentoring experiences from Nobel Laureates.

Contributor Michael Gatchell

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One group of people that have experienced the greatest thrills science has to offer has to be the Nobel laureates.

Science is about discovering and understanding the unknown. To do this you need an open mind and follow paths that no one else has walked down before. The classes you take as a student and books you read provide the basic knowledge, but it is the interactions with people around you that mold you into a true scientist — ready to take on the greatest problems that nature has in store.

Every Laureate has a unique story of making choices along a nonlinear career path. But as any of them will tell you, it is important to have an ensemble of mentors that you trust for advice at any point along the way, not only when you are young and inexperienced. “You cannot learn science from books — you have to learn science from other people, who give you the right imprint,” says Carlo Rubbia, 1984 Nobel Laureate in physics. Continue reading →

Lindau: Winning the war

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At this summer’s 64th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting, 37 laureates spent a week with 600 young scientists from almost 80 countries to share their ideas, experiences and knowledge. Discussions revolved around global health, the latest findings in cancer and Aids research, challenges in immunology, and future approaches to medical research. All of the lectures can be viewed on Lindau’s Mediatheque website.

We’ve already heard about the future directions of HIV, ageing research and the side-effects of pharmaceuticals. This week Lorna explores the war on cancer.

Winning the war

In 1971, the then president of the United States, Richard Nixon, declared ‘war’ on cancer. Since then, billions of dollars have been poured into cancer research worldwide, but a cure for the disease is still a long way off. In this Nature Video, reporter Lorna Stewart marks the scientific milestones of the past four decades. She explores cancer genetics with Nobel laureate Michael Bishop, vaccines with fellow laureate Harald zur Hausen, and two young researchers tell Lorna about some of cancer research’s greatest success stories.

Nature Outlook also produced a supplement based on the Lindau meetings.

Lindau: May cause drowsiness

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At this summer’s 64th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting, 37 laureates spent a week with 600 young scientists from almost 80 countries to share their ideas, experiences and knowledge. Discussions revolved around global health, the latest findings in cancer and Aids research, challenges in immunology, and future approaches to medical research. All of the lectures can be viewed on Lindau’s Mediatheque website.

We’ve already heard about the future directions of HIV and ageing research. This week Lorna explores the side effects of pharmaceuticals.

May cause drowsiness

The benefits of modern pharmaceuticals are often accompanied by side effects, and although some are minor, like headaches or drowsiness, others can be much more serious. In this Nature Video, reporter Lorna Stewart asks scientists if we will ever eliminate side effects. Lorna is surprised when Nobel laureate Martin Evans claims there are no side effects, and fellow laureate Oliver Smithies explains how complicated it can be to eliminate the unwanted effects of taking medicine. However, exciting research is on the horizon, as two young researchers explain.

Nature Outlook also produced a supplement based on the Lindau meetings.

Lindau: The long goodbye

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At this summer’s 64th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting, 37 laureates spent a week with 600 young scientists from almost 80 countries to share their ideas, experiences and knowledge. Discussions revolved around global health, the latest findings in cancer and Aids research, challenges in immunology, and future approaches to medical research. All of the lectures can be viewed on Lindau’s Mediatheque website.

Reporter Lorna Stewart was there for Nature Video to capture the unique spirit of the Meeting. In a series of four films, she asks both laureates and young researchers some of the most profound questions in medicine. The first film, HIV in hiding, highlights the research of Françoise Barré-Sinoussi who was awarded the Nobel prize for the discovery of HIV.

This is the second film: The long goodbye.

Growing old is inevitable and across the world average life expectancy is increasing. With the prevalence of age-related diseases following suit and a limited pot of resources, where should scientists be targeting research? In this Nature Video, superstar statistician Hans Rosling sets the record straight about the cause of the world’s ageing population and Nobel laureate Oliver Smithies, now 89, gives his opinion on medical research priorities. But when Lorna talks to young researchers, they disagree with the laureates on where scientists should be focusing their efforts.

Nature Outlook also produced a supplement based on the Lindau meetings.

 

Lindau: HIV in Hiding

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At this summer’s 64th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting, 37 laureates spent a week with 600 young scientists from almost 80 countries to share their ideas, experiences and knowledge. Discussions revolved around global health, the latest findings in cancer and Aids research, challenges in immunology, and future approaches to medical research. All of the lectures can be viewed on Lindau’s Mediatheque website.

Reporter Lorna Stewart was there for Nature Video to capture the unique spirit of the Meeting. In a series of four films, she asks both laureates and young researchers some of the most profound questions in medicine. The first film, HIV in hiding, highlights the research of Françoise Barré-Sinoussi who was awarded the Nobel prize for the discovery of HIV.

HIV in hiding
In 2008, Timothy Ray Brown became the first person to be cured of HIV — or so many claim. Brown is known as ‘the Berlin patient’ and six years on, the virus has still not been detected in his blood. In this Nature Video, Lorna wants to know the implications of his remarkable treatment. But her dreams of an imminent cure quickly fade as Nobel laureate Françoise Barré-Sinoussi, who discovered HIV, brings Lorna back to Earth with a bump.

Nature Outlook also produced a supplement based on the Lindau meetings.

 

Lindau: A picture of health

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Nature Video presents four films from the 2014 Nobel Laureate Meeting in Lindau.

Reporter Lorna Stewart travels to the German island of Lindau to meet 600 of science’s brightest young minds and 37 rock stars – Nobel laureates.

In a series of four films, Stewart asks some of the most profound questions in medicine. In one film, superstar statistician Hans Rosling helps Stewart get to grips with the realities of an ageing global population. In other films, Stewart delves into the past 40 years of cancer research, wonders if we’ll ever eliminate side effects when we take medication, and receives a reality check on the battle against HIV.

Get a taste in this trailer.

You can view all the Nature Lindau films here and Nature Outlook also produced a supplement based on the Lindau meetings.

Young scientists quiz Nobel winners

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In July this year, over 27 Nobel laureates and almost 600 young scientists convened at the 62nd Lindau Meeting of Nobel Laureates in the town of Lindau in Germany.

This year’s theme was physics, and the young researchers, who were selected to attend from 69 countries, had the chance to meet and exchange views and ideas with some of the top scientists in their field.

Nature Video has produced a series of short films in which these young scientists put their own questions to Nobel laureates. The films tackle questions that are important to young physicists today, and show how this generation often don’t see things in the same way as the greats who went before them.

Lindau

{credit}Thea Cunningham{/credit}

The films have been released weekly over the past month and the last two went online last night. They cover a range of topics including dark matter, trust in science, the future of energy, and cosmological proofs. Click on the headings below to watch the videos.

Betting on the cosmos

In the latest film in the series, Nobel prize-winner Robert Laughlin challenges the students in this film, and laureate David Gross, to come up with ways to test our big ideas about the Universe. The two laureates make a bet. Watch the film to find out more and to decide who wins.

 Beyond the classroom

In this film, three young researchers join laureates Harry Kroto and Dudley Herschbach to discuss how science is perceived beyond the classroom. Kroto tells them about a creationist museum in the United States, which brings up the issue of public trust in science.

Is dark matter real?

The morning after CERN announces the discovery of the Higgs particle, three young physicists sit down with Nobel prizewinners George Smoot and Martinus Veltman to digest the news. The students see it as another success for the standard model of particle physics. But Veltman, who helped to shape this model, is cynical. Moreover, Veltman contends that there is no such thing as dark matter. See how the shocked students and Smoot respond to Veltman’s scepticism.

The energy endgame

In this film, Nobel laureates Mario Molina and Robert Laughlin challenge three young physicists to think seriously about the looming energy crisis and their children’s futures.

A golden age?

Here, three young researchers take on Nobel prize-winner John Mather. He believes we are in a golden age of astronomy, but they are not convinced. There are too many unanswered questions, they say. For example, what’s causing the accelerated expansion of the Universe observed by the other laureate in this film, Brian Schmidt?

You can also find out more about some of the young researchers who took part in the meeting at Lindau in Scientific American’s profiles: 30 under 30.

And if you still haven’t had your physics fix, we also have an Outlook supplement in this week’s issue of Nature all about Physics.

 

 

 

Nobel laureates share career insights with young scientists

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Each year, young researchers from all over the world meet with Nobel prize-winners on the German island of Lindau to discuss the big questions in science. The 2011 meeting focused on the world’s greatest health challenges and how to tackle them, and the Nature Video team was on hand to capture the conversations on camera.

The young researchers in these films are working on malaria, cancer, viruses and more. They are also learning how to be scientists: how to write grant applications, how to collaborate with other research groups and how to find the right career path. See what advice the laureates offer — and what questions they have in return.

There are five films in the series, and one will be published each week from 15 September to 13 October.

29 September: Bench or bedside? with Ferid Murad

Camelia-Lucia Cimpianu is trying to decide between a career as a researcher or a practising doctor. In this film, she seeks advice from Nobel Laureate Ferid Murad who faced the same dilemma as a medical student in the 1960s.

22 September: Combating cancer with Edmond Fischer

Nobel Laureate Eddie Fischer was born in Shanghai in 1920. Since then, China has emerged as an economic superpower. Now it’s becoming a scientific heavyweight too. Tong Qing belongs to the newest generation of Chinese scientists. She decided to study cancer after a family friend became ill with breast cancer. In this film, she tells Fischer about life and research in China today.

To see more videos, go to the Nature Video Lindau collection website.

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