UCT students to meet Nobel laureates

Four University of Cape Town (UCT) students are among 20 top young South African scientists successfully nominated by the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf) to attend the 69th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting dedicated to physics in Germany in June.

As the official partner of the Lindau Foundation, and with funding from the Department of Science and Technology, ASSAf nominates young scientists every year to attend the event, where they enjoy in-depth exchanges with Nobel laureates.

The four UCT students are Jake Gordin (Master’s, Astrophysics and Space Science), Julia Healy (PhD Astronomy), Itumeleng Monageng (PhD Astronomy) and Kimeel Sooknunan (Master’s, Astrophysics and Space Science). They will be among the 580 young scientists from 88 counties who will join 42 Nobel laureates at the meeting, which takes place from 30 June to 5 July in Lindau.

ASSAf said the six-day programme will include lectures and panel discussions, with many of the students also getting the chance to present their own work at one of the master classes or during a poster session.

“[The South African scientists] will serve as ambassadors for the country in the area of physics and at the International Day South Africa is hosting [at the event],” said ASSAf executive officer Professor Himla Soodyall.