NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Two Vanderbilt graduate students – Jonathan Sprinkle and Laura Anderson Swafford – will fly to Lindau, Germany, next month to attend the 52nd convention of Nobel Laureates.
Sprinkle and Swafford will be joining some 400 other young researchers from around the world who have been afforded the opportunity to spend a week of formal and informal meetings with 20 Nobel Prize winners in chemistry. The meetings have been conducted annually since 1951 when the Swedish patron, Count Lennart Bernadotte established the tradition, rotating between the fields of chemistry, physics and physiology/medicine.
Sprinkle was selected as one of 10 outstanding young researchers to attend the meeting by the Oak Ridge Associated Universities. Swafford was picked by the U.S. Department of Energy as one of 27 outstanding young researchers to attend the meeting.
The convention takes place July 1-5. It will be kicked off with welcoming ceremonies, an evening dinner and gala social event. For the next three days, the laureates will lecture on topics of their choice during the morning. Each afternoon, they will be seated at tables by themselves and students will be encouraged to approach any of them that that they wish. In the evenings, the laureates will join small groups of participants for informal dinner discussions at hotels and restaurants in Lindau. The event ends on Friday with closing ceremonies conducted in a baroque castle on the Isle of Mainau, the residence of Count Bernadotte,
A special website has been set up to post daily information while students are attending the meetings. Each day, photos and a summary of events will be posted on the website. The URL for this year’s meeting is: http://www.orau.gov/orise/edu/lindau2002.
Contact: David F. Salisbury, (615) 343-6803
David.Salisbury@Vanderbilt.Edu