Physics doctoral student invited to attend prestigious conference with Nobel Laureates
The Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings, held in Lindau Bavaria since 1951, feature between 30 and 40 Nobel Laureates, who gather to meet the next generation of leading scientists; 600 undergraduates, master’s students, PhDs and postdocs from all over the world.
Paul’s supervisors recommended him to DCU, who in turn recommended him to the Irish Research Council. From there he was approved to attend by the Lindau organisers.
“I had to fill in information on the Lindau portal, such as my CV, letter of motivation, work history, transcripts and list of publications - it was quite extensive,” said Paul.
Now in his eight year, having started at undergraduate level and gone all the way through to his PhD, Paul says he has loved his time at DCU.
Big Bang
His interest in Physics was originally stoked by watching the television show, The Big Bang Theory, with his father, and his girlfriend.
“That’s what got me into it. I know it is all talked up for TV, and kind of exaggerated, but all of the physics they talk about is real fundamental, cutting edge, sci-fi type physics.”
“That is something I would love to get into when I finish my PhD. I’d love to go to one of the big research institutes in Europe, on a temporary, contract position.”
Paul is looking forward to attending the conference, as he missed out on conferences and meeting other scientists during the first two years of his PhD, during the Covid-19 crisis.
“A big thing for me is getting out there and meeting other scientists, making those connections and seeing what’s out there.”
“I never thought I’d have the opportunity to talk to a Nobel laureate and there will be at least 30 laureates at the Lindau meeting, so I’m very excited.”
“There’s an opportunity too to present your own work, to submit an abstract, and depending on your topic, you can give an oral presentation to quite an esteemed audience.”
“It’s a chance to get your research out there to the best people, and to see if there is anyone doing something similar to me at the moment.”
“There is so much (scientific) literature out there - you can try and search for similar things - but if you meet people it is a lot better.”
“The first conference that I attended was in October in Naples. That was one of the best experiences of my PhD, so I can imagine Lindau will be just as good, if not better.”