Graduate students meet with Nobel laureates

Melissa Bonner and Patricia Jones, both doctoral-level graduate students in biological sciences at UD, were selected to attend the 57th annual meeting of Nobel laureates this summer.

The two, chosen for their outstanding research participation, joined a group of 48 other U.S. students and more than 500 international students at the July meeting in Lindau, Germany.

Bonner was chosen by Oak Ridge Associated Universities, while Jones was selected by the National Science Foundation. Other students representing the United States were sponsored by Mars Inc., the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Institutes of Health.

Since 1951, Nobel laureates in chemistry, physics and physiology/medicine have convened annually in Lindau to conduct open and informal meetings with students and young researchers from around the world. The 2007 event, which traditionally rotates by discipline each year, focused on physiology and medicine.

During the meeting, the laureates lectured on the topics of their choice related to physiology and medicine and also participated in small, less formal group discussions with the students in the afternoons and some evenings. The primary purpose of the meeting was to allow participants—most of whom are students—to benefit from informal interaction with the Nobel Prize winners. During lunches and dinners, laureates joined participants at local restaurants for discussions. Participants also met other attendees from around the world at several social events.

“I was very excited and honored to learn about my acceptance to the U.S. delegation,” Bonner said before leaving for the meeting. “This opportunity to gain insight from Nobel laureates is priceless, and I believe it will greatly impact my motivation as a scientist. Also, this will be my first experience traveling in Europe, and I am very excited to expand my horizons.”

Jones calls meeting and interacting with scientists who have achieved one of the highest honors in their field “an invaluable and unforgettable experience.”

Bonner is a 2004 graduate of the University of Maryland. Her research concentrations at UD are thrombosis and haemostasis. Jones is a 2005 graduate of Nazareth College of Rochester, N.Y. Her research concentration at UD is musculoskeletal cell biology.