Two students from the University of Hyderabad (UoH) made the State proud participating in the 62nd Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting (Physics) held at Lindau in Germany. Harshavardhan Reddy Pinninty and Soumya, both students of fourth year Integrated M.Sc. Physics were among the 580 students selected from 70 countries to attend the conference. They were among the 18 students who represented India.
Q What have you learnt from the Lindau Nobel Lectures?
At the Lindau meeting, all the Nobel laureates were given the chance to speak about a topic of their choice. Some spoke about their past and current research, others talked about matters that interest them such as energy and climate change and others talked about science and society. The topics discussed during Lindau Meeting include particle physics, cosmology, energy and climate change. At Lindau Meeting, I observed that Nobel Laureates are very much down to earth, even though they are considered as God’s of Science by whole scientific community worldwide. They discussed with us very freely from basics and inspired us for the future development in research.
I was mainly impacted by many talks including the one by Dan Shechtman in which he told us about the importance of perseverance and hard work. Science is not written on a stone and we should let nature talk for itself and be prepared to change our preconceptions. We don’t know it all and, as he said, a humble scientist is a good scientist. As Kroto said “Science only tells you how to think, others tell you what to think. Think about it.”
Q How important is this break?
The meeting gave me the opportunity to exchange ideas, gain exposure to Physics and interdisciplinary research areas and establish new contacts and networks. Not only did this meeting provide me the opportunity to meet and hear from Nobel laureates, it also provided a fantastic opportunity for our early-career researchers (Alumni) to meet, discuss ideas and to potentially form beneficial relationships with peers from across the globe. This break is very important for me before entering into my Master’s degree as I feel it is a great inspiration for me which can enhances my academics and research aptitude. The suggestions and motivation I got during discussions with Nobel laureates is unforgettable.
Q Which are Nobel Laureates you have met?
I especially interacted and discussed with John L. Hall, Theodor W. Hansch, William D. Phillips, Dan Shechtman and David J. Gross during Master Class and Discussion secessions in afternoon. I was invited to special dinner with William D. Phillips for asking good questions during his Master class secession.
Q What’s the most important thing you have learnt from Nobel Laureates?
As per my deep observations are concerned, the most important thing I learnt from Nobel Laureates is to live the life as close as possible to the Nature. Observe and think about the most efficient research going on in Nature’s laboratory. That is the only way to discover the hidden secrets of nature.
Q How has entire experience been?
I am very much excited and inspired after the meeting. I will take away these great experiences, great friends, new ideas and most of all the impressions I got of the Nobel Laureates, not just as great scientists, but also human beings. I believe that good discussions always leave us with good thoughts and ideas. Interacting directly with Nobel laureates and discussing my ideas with them enhanced my thoughts to great extent. I believe that this interaction with like-minded young researchers from all over the world with entirely different backgrounds and establishing contacts with them is going to be the basic platform for interdisciplinary and collaborative research in my future. This opportunity helped me to appreciate and understand the importance of physics as an interdisciplinary tool in other fields about which I am fascinated.
Q What’s the one thing you will like to share with your friends in India?
I would highly recommend the Lindau Meetings to any young scientist, and particularly those interested in the wider implications of science and its role in the world. As a physicist I favour curiosity driven research over directed one. In my opinion is the way to scientific advancement and discovery. I strongly believe that villagers who lives very close to nature can do better research if they can trained a little as I feel they knows the language of nature better than anyone else. “The future Nobel Laureates will come from villages” as William D Philips mentioned during his discussion secession. Everyone should take responsibility to make India the strongest power in science.
Q What do you want to become when you grow up?
I want to become experimental physicist in the field of Laser Spectroscopy and serve India and take science to remote villages to make everyone aware. I know the importance of science in development of villages as I myself born and brought up from a remote village in Andhra Pradesh, India where I got a chance to live very close to nature. From my childhood, I am trying to understand surrounding nature in my own way. In fact, Nature has been the main motivation for me to take up research as a career. I strongly believe that for every research problem, nature holds a solution, but we just ignore it. Hence I would like to learn the fundamentals of natural sciences in great depth.