Kapil Sibal Asks Young Scientists to Emulate Nobel Laureates

Shri Kapil Sibal, Union Minister for Science and Technology & Earth Sciences, today congratulated the team of 21 Young Indian Scientists/Students who represented India at the 57th Meeting of Nobel Laureates & students in Medicine & Physiology and related subjects at Lindau in June 2007. This was the Seventh team deputed by India. Department of Science and Technology (DST) launched this programme in 2001 for participation of young Indian Scientists in the Annual Meetings of Nobel laureates & Students in Lindau, which is jointly sponsored by the DST from Indian side and the Committee for the Meeting of Nobel laureates & Students and German Research Foundation (DFG) from the German Side.

Addressing the young scientists who called on him in New Delhi, Shri Sibal urged them to make best use of the opportunity of the meeting with the best brains in the field by appropriately applying the ideas in their own research. He said the purpose of the programme is to get inspiration from Nobel laureates who are simple persons with great sense of purpose. After listening to the experiences of each young scientist the Minister gave an assurance that his Ministry will facilitate a Lindau like meeting soon in India so that more Indian students get the opportunity to interact with the great minds in Science and students from other parts of the world.

The meeting at Lindau lasts for one week, always at the end of June/beginning of July and is aimed at open and informal contact between Laureates and young researchers through round table discussion, lectures and personal small group interactions.

This year’s meeting was dedicated to medicine and physiology with participation by 18 Nobel Laureates and about 500 young scientists from around the world. Wide ranging topics were discussed in an informal atmosphere which included the following areas:

• RNAi and development in C. elegans
• Oxygen, energy and life
• Biofuels-sense or nonsense
• The cell cycle and cancer
• Why I love microbes
• On the dynamics of our proteins: from basic mechanism and onto the patient bed
• Why do we not have a vaccine against TB or HIV (yet)?
• Medical sciences and society
• Darwinian evolution as understood by scientists of the 21st century

The Indian team comprised of 21 young scientists and students in the age group 20-35 yrs and in their early science careers. The team included 10 female students. The participants in the team were short-listed by a selection committee from a large number of applications received from all over India against an open advertisement released by the DST.

Source : Press Information Bureau
Date : July 16, 2007