Unisa students Sidiki Zongo and Agnes Mbonyiryivuze have been selected to attend the 66^th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting later this year in Lindau, Germany.

Zongo, who is doing his PhD, and Mbonyiryivuze, her MSc, are both fellows of the UNESCO-Unisa Africa Chair in Nanosciences and Nanotechnology.

Together with five other top young scientists from South Africa nominated by the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf), they will be joining 395 of their peers from 80 countries to participate in this year’s Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting.

The Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings are designed as a forum for young scientists from all over the world to have an in-depth exchange with Nobel Laureates.

Successful participants are outstanding undergraduate and postgraduate students and postdoctoral students under 35 years of age, in the field of physics, which is the focus of this year’s meeting. They were selected after a multi-stage international selection process.

The meeting will take place from 26 June to 1 July 2016; a total of around 30 Nobel Laureates is expected to participate. The Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings have been held annually at Lindau, Germany, since 1951.

“The Nobel Laureates will get to meet some especially qualified and committed young people this summer,” says Wolfgang Lubitz, Director of the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Energy Conversion and Vice-President of the Council for the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings. “The proportion of women is 31 per cent—a good, internationally representative number in the field of physics.”

The selected young scientists may expect a six-day programme with numerous lectures and panel discussions. Many see the chance to present their own research work at one of the master classes or at the poster session as a special opportunity.

“The attendance steadily became more international as part of the continuous expansion of the network of academic partner institutions,” explains Burkhard Fricke, Professor emeritus for theoretical physics and coordinator of the selection process. “This year’s participants represent 80 countries. Some144 academies of science, universities, foundations, and researching enterprises were involved in the selection process.”

Among the Nobel Laureates who have already confirmed their participation are Japan’s Takaaki Kajita and Arthur B McDonald from the US. They were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2015 for the discovery of neutrino oscillations, which shows that neutrinos have mass. Particle physics will be among the key topics of the Lindau Meeting.

For young scientists standing at the beginning of their careers, it is a valuable opportunity to meet these undisputed role models and mentors, to seek their advice, to exchange thoughts and views, and to discuss current developments in science and beyond.

Zongo and Mbonyiryivuze will be following in the footsteps of Dr Dalia Saad, postdoctoral researcher at the Nanotechnology and Water Sustainability (NanoWS) research unit, who was chosen to attend the 65^th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting last year.

Professor Malik Maaza, incumbent of the UNESCO-Unisa Africa Chair in Nanosciences and Nanotechnology is extremely gratified that two fellows of the chair have been selected to go to Lindau. Unisa fellows in this field who have recently received international awards of high calibre are:

• Dr Z Nuru (Unisa postdoc): The L’Oreal UNESCO postdoctoral award, SA—January 2016
• Dr A Simo (Unisa postdoc): Chinese Academy of Science fellowship, Xi’an, China—January 2016
• J Sackey (Unisa PhD): First award at NANO 15, India—December 2015
• Dr K Kaviyarasu (Unisa postdoc): Third award at NANO 15, India—December 2015
• S Zongo (Unisa PhD): India DST RTF award—2016
• A Diallo (Unisa PhD): India DST RTF award—2016
• Dr N Thovhogi (Unisa PhD): India DST RTF award—2016
• T Thema (Unisa PhD): Pakistan COMSTEC NCP fellowship—2016

*Compiled by Sharon Farrell

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