The statement from the attendee, Miss Shreya KAR:
“Rarely you are fortunate enough to be a part of a meeting with the Michelin star chefs of Science aka the Nobel Laureates. The 11th HOPE meeting with the Nobel Laureates organized by JSPS was a dream come true for young researchers like myself, which gave us the scope to interact with the finest scientists in our field, establish meaningful collaborations with researchers from different parts of the world, and make life-long friendships. I am grateful to JSPS, my school- the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore (NUS), Prof Fred Wong – Head of the Department of Pharmacology, NUS, and last but not the least, my supervisor Dr. Alan Prem Kumar for this wonderful opportunity. I have attended more than 10 international conferences and meetings in the course of my 4-year PhD program but I can undoubtedly say that the HOPE meeting with the Nobel Laureates will be the most special to my heart.
The best part of this meeting was the group discussions with the Noble laureates, where we got up-close and personal with the geniuses. It was so inspiring to listen to their journey so far, what inspires them to go on, and how they deal with the paparazzi. The most awestruck moment for me was the discussion with Prof Ben Feringa- his art of building small, his ideas on how the unique micro motors he is designing can help the mankind. Prof Aaron Ciechanover termed proteins as the “musicians carrying out the symphony of life without a conductor” and gave us a thoughtful speech about how much we have progressed in the last decade and what we are capable of achieving in the future. Prof Takaaki Kajita’s talk on neutrinos and how his team built the kamiokande and the super-kamiokande to study the proton decay took me back to my childhood when I would just stare at the sky and think the infinity of things we do not know about the creation. Prof Tim Hunt “cycled” us back to the time when he discovered the brakes of cell cycle. Each and every talk was captivating and I am blessed to be a part of it.”
In the picture are 4 Noble laureates (top left corner and clockwise): Prof. Takaaki KAJITA, Prof. Tim HUNT, Prof. Aaron CIECHANOVER and Prof. Ben L. FERINGA