Hannah Behrens chosen to take part in 2018 Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting

St Edmund Hall postgraduate student Hannah Behrens has been admitted to the prestigious Lindau Nobel Laureate meeting at Lake Constance in Germany this June. 600 young scientists will attend the 6-day meeting, with 41 Nobel Laureates. Hannah went through a multi-stage selection process to earn the chance to meet 41 of the Nobel Laureates working in the prize category of Physiology and Medicine.

Hannah, a member of the Infection, Immunology and Translational Medicine PhD program, is excited about going to the meeting and feels honoured to be presented with such an opportunity. “I am looking forward to being inspired by the diversity of biomedical research I am going to hear about,” she said. “It will certainly be an amazing experience to meet the Nobel Laureates and be able to talk to researchers from all over the world.” Hannah’s PhD research in the laboratory of Professor Kleanthous investigates how novel protein antibiotics penetrate bacterial defences.

The Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting allows young scientists to meet Nobel Laureates, listen to their talks, present their own work to the Laureates, and chat with them more informally. Be it over breakfast, lunch or dinner, during walks or the morning workout, the poster sessions or the master classes, there will be ample opportunity to interact with the Laureates.

Hannah first heard about the meeting during her undergraduate degree in Germany. One of her friends attended the meeting and was amazed by the experience. Inspired to attend herself, Hannah had to wait until 2018 as the Physiology and Medicine meeting only takes place every four years. Key topics of this year’s meeting will be the publishing culture in academia, personalised medicine and eHealth, and science in the “post-factual” era.