Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings

The two physicians Franz Karl Hein and Gustav Wilhelm Parade from Lindau, a small town located on the Bavarian shore of Lake Constance, conceived the idea of organising a scientific meeting to bring together German researchers and physicians with Nobel laureates. They convinced Count Lennart Bernadotte af Wisborg, a member of the Swedish royal family and proprietor of nearby Mainau Island, to call upon his good connections to Sweden's Nobel Committee to support the undertaking. The first meeting, subsequently held in 1951, was dedicated to the fields of medicine and physiology and was attended by seven Nobel laureates, among them Adolf Butenandt and Hans von Euler-Chelpin. After the success of the initial meeting, the scientific scope was broadened to include the other two natural science Nobel Prize disciplines chemistry and physics. Thus, a mode of annually alternating disciplines for the meetings was established.[2]

Nobel laureate Werner Heisenberg surrounded by students at the 5th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting in 1955. Photo: Archive Spang/Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings.

In 1954, the Council for the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings was founded and henceforth established as the organising committee of the meetings. Count Lennart was appointed as first president of the Council. Also in 1954, the concept of inviting students and young scientists to the meetings was introduced. This step was seen as a measure to add additional value for society to the meetings. Among the young scientists participating that year were also students from Eastern Germany.[3]

While originally conceived by Hein and Parade as a European meeting of scientists, the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings slowly but steadily became more international. In the beginnings, only students from Lake Constance's bordering countries Germany, Switzerland, and Austria attended but year after year new nations began to send representatives. Since 2000, each Lindau Meeting is attended by young scientists from between 80 and 90[4] or even up 100 countries.[5]

In 1987, Count Bernadotte resigned from his position as president of the Council due to health reasons and his wife, Countess Sonja Bernadotte af Wisborg, took over.

Shortly before the turn of the millennium, the future of the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings was endangered due to financial uncertainties. In order to counter this negative development, Countess Sonja Bernadotte expanded the Council and added experts from charitable foundations and public affairs as well as representatives of Stockholm's Nobel Foundation to the committee.

Two main goals of Countess Sonja Bernadotte's aegis were the further internationalisation of the meetings and to improve its public image, both domestically and internationally.

On the occasion of the 50th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting in the year 2000, the establishment of the Foundation Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings was officially announced. Its main goal since then has been to secure the funding of the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings. Upon its creation, over 40 Nobel Laureates joined the Founders Assembly of the foundation and support the continuance of the conference both ideationally and financially.[6]

The 50th Lindau Meeting in 2000 was also the first interdisciplinary meeting that united Nobel laureates and students from all three natural science disciplines (physics, chemistry and physiology or medicine) of the Nobel Prize.

When Countess Sonja Bernadotte died in October 2008, her daughter, Countess Bettina Bernadotte, was elected President of the Council. She continued her mother's course and worked on establishing further cooperation with research institutions around the world but also introduced educational aspects for society in general to the Lindau Meetings.[7]

The meetings focus alternately on physiology and medicine, physics, and chemistry – the three natural science Nobel Prize disciplines. Since 2000, an interdisciplinary meeting revolving around all three natural sciences is held every five years. In addition, since 2004 the Lindau Meeting on Economic Sciences is held every three years with recipients of the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel.

Nobel laureate Stefan Hell in discussion with young scientists. Photo: Ch. Flemming/Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings.

The following session types are currently part of the scientific programme of the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings:

• Lectures: Traditional presentations held by the Nobel laureates who are free to choose their topics.
• Agora Talks: The Agora Talks feature one or two Nobel laureates and a moderator, discussing a topic of the laureate’s choosing. Participants are given the opportunity to ask questions in an open forum setting. This format is especially suitable for controversial and new topics.
• Discussion Sessions: In the afternoon, following their lectures, the Nobel laureates engage in intimate discussion sessions with the young scientists and answer their questions.
• Master Classes: Upon previous application, selected young scientists are given the chance to present their own research in front of an audience and receive feedback from the Nobel laureates.
• Panel Discussions: Several Nobel laureates and other meeting participants gather for a panel discussion and debate current issues in science. The audience has the opportunity to direct questions to the panelists.
• Science Breakfasts: Early-morning, panel discussions hosted by partner institutions and supporters of the meetings.

Apart from the abovementioned, there are also other formats such as Poster Sessions, Science Walks, Laureate Lunches and Life Lectures.[8]

Mainau Castle on Mainau Island, property of the Bernadotte family and the traditional venue of the last day of every Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting.

The Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings also host several events with social functions like dinners, BBQs and cultural events. Since 2010 one evening of each meeting is dedicated to an alternating partner country. The partner countries so far have been India (2009), the European Union (2010), the United States of America (2011), Singapore (2012), South Korea (2013), Australia (2014), France (2015), Austria (2016), Mexico (2017), China (2018) and South Africa (2019).

The last day of each meeting includes both scientific and social programme features with a boat trip to Mainau Island. The visit to the island owned by the Bernadotte family is designed both to let the meetings culminate in a final panel discussion on a topic combining science and society and to give the young scientists the opportunity to visit Mainau, the ‘flower island’.

Young scientists who want to participate need to pass a multi-stage application process. The application is open to undergraduates, PhD students and post-doc researchers under the age of 35 who are at the top of their class and do not hold a permanent position yet. Young scientists can only participate once in a Lindau meeting.[9]

Over the years many noteworthy guests of honour have visited the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings: Among them former German Presidents Roman Herzog, Johannes Rau, Horst Köhler and Christian Wulff. Former German President Joachim Gauck gave the opening address at the interdisciplinary meeting in 2015. German Chancellor Angela Merkel held the opening speech at the Lindau Meeting on Economic Sciences 2014 and 2017 it was the then president of the ECB Mario Draghi. Further notable guests include philanthropist and software entrepreneur Bill Gates, former President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso and the President of Singapore Tony Tan.

Applications for meeting participation need to be addressed to the academic partners, who in turn nominate the best young scientists for the meetings.The council sustains a global network of academic partner institutions that range from national science academies, to universities, foundations and government ministries.

The Lindau meetings are funded by both public resources and private donations. The costs and funding of each meeting are made public in the annual report of the respective year. Private supporters are listed on the organisation's website and various other publications.[10]

The meetings provide many networking opportunities for young scientists who in turn form global networks that often yield research collaborations or knowledge transfer not limited by borders or differing cultures. The Lindau Alumni Network as well as regular events for former participants help to connect the Lindau Community even after the meetings.[11]

Nobel laureate Brian Schmidt reading the Mainau Declaration 2015 on Climate Change.

In 1955 at the 5th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting, German physics Nobel laureates Max Born and Otto Hahn initiated the ‘Mainau Declaration against the Use of Nuclear Weapons’ that was meant to urge world leaders to abstain from using nuclear weapons. It was initially signed by 18 Nobel laureates attending the meeting, but the number of signatories grew to 52 within a year.

Sixty years later, at the 65th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting in the summer of 2015, a second Mainau Declaration was issued, this time making a statement on the need to combat climate change. The declaration was initially signed by 36 attending Nobel laureates who were later joined by 35 additional colleagues.

In the tradition of the “Mainau Declarations”, Nobel laureate Elizabeth Blackburn initiated the “Lindau Guidelines” in her opening speech during the 68th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting. The initiative formulates guidelines for global, sustainable and cooperative open science in the 21st century. The “Lindau Guidelines” currently comprise 10 goals, which are still openly discussed and are to be officially adopted and signed at the 70th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting in 2021.

The Asian Science Camp, an annual forum for pre-collegiate and college students which aims at promoting discussion and cooperation among Asian students for the betterment of science in the Asian region, is modeled after the Lindau meetings. This idea of an annual camp was co-proposed by Yuan Tseh Lee and Masatoshi Koshiba at the 2005 Nobel Laureate Meetings at Lindau. With the exception of the COVID-19 pandemic, the forum has been meeting annually since 2007.