Once a year, 20 to 30 Nobel Laureates meet in Lindau on Lake Constance - more than anywhere else except for at the award ceremonies in Stockholm. They have been keeping up this tradition since 1951 to exchange ideas with their peers. Every year since 1953, they have also invited a number of outstanding young scientists and researchers seeking to facilitate not only the exchange between disciplines but also an exchange between generations. 35,000 students, doctoral candidates, and junior professors have thus far had the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to spend a few days with the most important thought leaders of our time. They will remain part of the Lindau Alumni Network throughout their lives. To be nominated for participation in this round is a special honor for young scientists.
Eleven current and former doctoral students and assistant professors of WHU - Otto Beisheim School of Management were to take part in this year's Meeting on Economic Sciences, which was planned as part of the event for the seventh time. But even Nobel Prize winners have to bow to the dictates of Covid-19 these days and postpone their meeting. It is now scheduled for 27 June to 2 July 2021. "Of course, I will be there next year as well," says Victor van Pelt, Assistant Professor at WHU. "It is simply a great honor and a unique opportunity to meet and interact with Nobel Laureates and other young researchers from all over the world."
As a special forum, the Beisheim Foundation will organize a breakfast meeting with one of the Nobel Prize winners as part of the event for WHU experts and young academics. The breakfast, conceived as a discussion group, will give participants the opportunity to experience even more directly how much passion, meticulousness, and effort is necessary to become one of the leading researchers of the world.
But even this year, there will be a number of events. "With all the sadness, there is also the opportunity to try out one or the other new thing for future meetings. We also want to make selected program items accessible to the public, as we’ve done before. In this case, we can offer these not only to Lindau and the region but to those interested worldwide,” says Countess Bettina Bernadotte, President of the Executive Committee. Virtual discussion rounds are planned in which Nobel Prize winners from all over the world will participate. Formats are conceivable in which young scientists can present their work and obtain feedback from their great role models.
Also, the Lindau Mediatheque is open to interested parties. There are numerous audio and video recordings of lectures from previous Lindau Meetings accessible as well as virtual visits to Nobel Laureates' laboratories and Mini Lectures intended for use in schools.