Two Penn Graduate Students Attend Annual Meeting of Nobel Laureates in Lindau, Germany

PHILADELPHIA -- University of Pennsylvania graduate students Danielle Reifsnyder and Renuka Nayak are among 75 U.S. student researchers selected to attend the 60th Annual Lindau Meeting of Nobel Laureates and Students in Germany. 

The June 27-July 2 meeting brought the best and brightest minds in science and medicine together with up-and-coming student and junior researchers.  Each morning Nobel Laureates in chemistry, physics or physiology/medicine lectured in their research specialties.  Afternoon sessions provided participants additional opportunities to talk to Laureates and network with more than 650 international students and junior researchers.

The students and researchers participating in the meeting were nominated and selected by sponsoring agencies and organizations.  The U.S. Department of Energy, Mars Inc., the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation and Oak Ridge Associated Universities are this year’s sponsors.

Reifsnyder, a third-year chemistry Ph.D. student was sponsored by the Department of Energy.  The NIH sponsored Nayak, a seventh year M.D.-Ph.D. student.

“Danielle and Renuka were great representatives of the U.S. and of Penn,” Sam Held of ORAU, who handled the administrative logistics for the nomination process and the trip planning, said.  “Seeing them interact with the Laureates, other U.S. students and their international peers was a pleasure.  They did a great job relaying the great science going on at Penn and are definitely on the right path for brilliant scientific careers.”

Details about the 2010 meeting are available at http://www.lindau-nobel.de.