The small town of Lindau regularly hosts a unique conference in the summer. Oldenburg physics doctoral candidate Jannik Ehrich was there this year - and reports on his experiences.
It's Sunday, half past two in the afternoon. I'm standing in the blazing sun on the forecourt of the Inselhalle in Lindau on Lake Constance, waiting to be admitted to the opening ceremony of the 69th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting. The atmosphere is comparable to that of a big rock concert: glass bottles are banned, bags are checked, laptops have to be booted up in front of the staff. But instead of band shirts, I see T-shirts with Schrödinger cats - the theme of this year's conference is physics.
The format of the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings is unique in the world: every summer, 30 to 40 Nobel Laureates come together with 600 young scientists from all over the world. The aim of the conference is to inspire, motivate and network. The subject areas are based on those of the Nobel Prizes and rotate annually: chemistry, medicine, economics, physics. Anyone wishing to take part must be nominated by an institution and then go through a complex application process.
Perseverance pays off
It was the same for me. In 2015, while I was still studying for my master's degree in physics, I was nominated once before. It didn't work out back then. Now, four years later and now a doctoral candidate at the Institute of Physics, I'm in. With my research topic - statistical physics of small systems strongly influenced by thermal fluctuations - I am an exotic at the conference. The focus is on laser physics, gravitational waves, dark matter and cosmology. This gives me a good all-round view of what the current and future "hot topics" in physics are.
I can leave the jacket I was wearing at the opening ceremony in the wardrobe for the following days. Even some Nobel Prize winners turn up in T-shirts, shorts and sandals with socks. An important realisation: the laureates are only human. Conversations at eye level take place during the coffee breaks. This is also where you learn an anecdote or two from their private lives, for example that Michael Kosterlitz (2016 Nobel Prize in Physics for research into the theory of topological phases of matter) almost gave up his scientific career for his true love: mountaineering.
Events such as walks or lunches in small groups are organised so that everyone has the opportunity to talk to the prizewinners without being disturbed. I manage to get a seat at lunch with Steven Chu (Nobel Prize in Physics 1997 for the process of generating ultra-cold gases using laser cooling, later he was US Secretary of Energy in the Obama administration).
Inspiring lunch
The meeting with Chu is the most inspiring moment of the conference for me. His current fields of research range from the biophysics of molecular motors in neurons to novel, improved ultrasound devices and innovative battery technology for commercial aviation. The topics, he says, he selects according to two criteria: What is important for the future and what interests him. Our conversation gallops from one topic to the next. I am impressed by his humour and his immense expertise. We even talk about my research.
Chu is passionately committed to climate protection. He is not alone in this. The gathering of so many outstanding scientists in one place is used time and again to make a political impact. In the so-called Mainau Declarations, Nobel Laureates have already pointed out grievances three times: in 1956 it was about the dangers of nuclear weapons, in 2015 about climate change and in 2016 about the advantages of using genetic engineering to secure global food supplies.
Next year, to mark the 70th anniversary of the conference, a "Lindau Declaration" is to be added. It is in favour of a new, cooperative, open international science system. In his opening speech, Brian Schmidt (Nobel Prize in Physics 2011 for the discovery of the accelerated expansion of the universe) also called on us young scientists to make our own research results as freely accessible as possible and to treat ideas and colleagues with respect and openness. It is our task to stand up to all those who reject scientific facts and have overly simple solutions to complex problems. This also means that we have a duty to present our findings to a wide audience. A clear call for more and better science communication!
"Do what you enjoy!"
And then he says something else that really makes me think: Last year, for the first time, NASA only accepted anonymised proposals to use the Hubble Space Telescope. The result: for the first time in almost 30 years, proposals from women had the same success rate as those from men. This shows that we scientists ourselves are not free from bias.
Which brings us to another important observation. There are only two women among the 38 prizewinners who have travelled here: Ada Yonath (2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for unravelling the function of ribosomes, the protein factories of our cells) and Donna Strickland (2018 Nobel Prize in Physics for the method of generating ultrashort, high-energy laser pulses). She is only the third woman ever to win the Nobel Prize in Physics. I realise once again that we have a gender problem in the natural sciences, especially in physics.
Another topic of discussion is the scientific career itself. There is a panel discussion with two young female scientists and three prize winners. In principle, there is agreement on the main problems: a scientific career requires great personal commitment, yet the prospects of success are uncertain. It is also difficult to reconcile it with family life. This is a particular deterrent for many young female scientists. Despite all this, it is clear that a life in research has a very special appeal. For many, it is more of a hobby than an academic appointment. Hence the number one career tip of all the award winners: "Do what you enjoy, stay curious and don't let yourself be unsettled!"
Dirndl, lederhosen and Bavarian beer
The contrast between the small holiday resort of Lindau and the high-calibre conference could not be greater: Here Bavarian tranquillity in front of a magnificent Alpine panorama, there intense scientific discussions between people from 89 different countries. On the traditional Bavarian evening, where traditional Bavarian dress is encouraged, the gap between these contrasts closes. While I, as a North German, find the costume rather strange, it goes down very well with visitors from overseas. Just like the Bavarian wheat beer that we young researchers and the Nobel Prize winners drink together that evening.
I travel home with fresh motivation and new self-confidence for my research. The week in Lindau was the most exciting time of my scientific career so far. Where else do you have the opportunity to meet so many inspiring people?
Jannik Ehrich
