Every year, Nobel Laureates and excellent young researchers from all over the world come together in Lindau to network and debate on scientific findings.

Since 1951, Laureates in chemistry, physics and medicine/physiology have met regularly in the meantime with about 550 excellent young researchers for the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings.

The aim is to enable scientific, intercultural exchange of knowledge across generations and to build networks. Presentations, panel discussions and master classes make up a large part of the Meeting’s programme.

The mission of the Meetings goes beyond educating the scientific elite of tomorrow. They also serve to communicate knowledge to the interested public. The motto is Mission Education.

A history rich in tradition

The Meetings are based on an initiative by the Lindau physicians Hein and Parade as well as Count Lennart Bernadotte, member of the Swedish royal family and landlord of Mainau island. The first Meeting in 1951 – a medical congress attended by seven Nobel Laureates from Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, the United States and Germany – launched an important initiative to re-establish contacts between scientists after World War II and was guided by the idea of reconciliation.

Educate.Inspire.Connect: The theme of the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings

This theme does not only apply to the Meetings, it is also a guideline or the societal commitment of the organizers, that is the Council and the Foundation Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings. Numerous projects communicate the fascination of science and research, inspire new ideas and invite debate. Both exchanges among researchers – across generations, disciplines and cultures - and anchoring science and research in the middle of society continue to be core concerns of the Council, the Foundation and its partners.

Besides cutting-edge research, present and future global challenges such as sustainability or debates on the responsibility of researchers, as part of and to society, are in the focus of the Lindau Meetings.

Supported by the Federal Ministry of Research

Since 2000, the organizers have given the Meetings an increasingly international and interdisciplinary orientation. The global network of academic partners, including first and foremost academies of science, universities and research institutions, is broadened continually. These partner institutions are a mainstay in the multi-level nomination and selection procedure, which is observed to enable highly-qualified and motivated young researchers from all over the world to participate in the Lindau Meetings. The further development of the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings is supported by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) as biggest public funder.

Editorial deadline for this text: 01.11.2024