Officially opened: 63rd Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting – Focus on chemistry

• A week of dialogue: 34 laureates meet with more than 600 young scientists
• Federal Minister Johanna Wanka: “Making excellent science tangible”
• Nobel Peace Laureate Ramos-Horta and bishop Stålsett participate in the dialogue

63rd Nobel Laureate Meeting, official opening depicting 
Countess Bettina Bernadotte and 18 Nobel Laureates, 
Photo: Christian Flemming

The 63rd Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting was officially opened on Sunday, 30 June, by Countess Bettina Bernadotte, President of the Council. Her opening speech ushered in a week of intercultural dialogue among elite scientists of different generations: 34 laureates and more than 600 young scientists from almost 80 countries are taking part in the meeting, the only one of its kind in the world. Until Friday, 5 July, the focus will be on chemistry. In addition to issues surrounding basic research, discussions will centre on chemistry’s application in areas such as power supply, pharmaceutical research and sustainable resources. Although the concept of ‘‘green chemistry’’ is one of the main topics on the meeting’s agenda for the week, biochemical processes and structures, and the generation, conversion and storage of chemical energy are also the subject of the many speeches and discussions to be held.

‘‘Science and education are catalysts of international understanding,’’ said Countess Bernadotte. ‘‘The language of science is universal and is understood across all national, cultural or religious boundaries.’’ This is a fact that is also underscored by the attendance of Nobel Peace Laureate and former president of East Timor, José Ramos-Horta. In addition to cutting-edge scientific topics, issues that affect society as a whole and matters of global consequence are assuming an ever- greater significance on the agenda of the meetings. After all, debates on the influence and responsibility of the scientific community extend beyond the circle of meeting participants and into society at large.

In her words of welcome, German Federal Minister of Education and Research Johanna Wanka said, ‘‘Excellent science transcends borders; today successful scientific careers take an international course. There are few places in the world where cutting-edge research is made as tangible for young scientists as here in Lindau.’’ Along with Minister Wanka more than 200 guests of honour from politics, business and science were present at the opening ceremony.

In a multi-step international application and selection process, which this year involved more than 150 academic partner institutions from all around the globe, the Lindau Council singled out more than 600 especially qualified students, doctoral students and post-docs to take part in the meeting. ‘‘I am impressed by the expertise, the curiosity and the energy of the young participants. The Lindau Meeting offers them a unique opportunity for the intercultural and intergenerational exchange of knowledge and ideas exchange and for networking,’’ declared Hartmut Michel, the German Chemistry Nobel Laureate, who is attending his 16th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting this year. Physics Nobel Laureate Steven Chu, who was the US Secretary of Energy until April 2013, is also in Lindau again this year. Attending for the first time are the 2012 Nobel Laureates Brian Kobilka (Chemistry), Serge Haroche and David Wineland (both Physics), whose lectures are eagerly awaited.

The Foundation Lindau Nobelprizewinners Meetings at Lake Constance, which has 262 Nobel Laureates in its Founders Assembly, used the opening ceremony as an occasion to pay tribute to the social commitment and the dedication to education, science and research of three supporters and companions of the Lindau Meetings: Gunnar Stålsett, bishop emeritus of Oslo and member of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, the organisation responsible for awarding the Nobel Peace Prize, Markus Storch, who chaired the Nobel Foundation for 17 years, and Klaus Tschira, co- founder of software company SAP and benefactor of one of Europe’s largest charitable foundations, were admitted into the Honorary Senate. Wolfgang Schürer, Chairman of the Lindau Foundation’s Board of Directors, described the three as outstanding personalities who had been role models, working selflessly in the service of society.

‘‘Educate. Inspire. Connect.’’ is the leitmotif of the Lindau Meetings, and it is the reason for the Nobel Laureates’ exceptional dedication. They invest a week of their precious time pro bono to build bridges between the generations and provide young scientists with experience, inspiration and motivation. With their speeches, as candid participants in the numerous discussions and as advisers and mentors in master classes they hold, the laureates make a valuable contribution to achieving that aim. Anyone with an interest in science anywhere in the world can follow what goes on at the Lindau Meetings over the internet, sharing in the fascination of what the laureates have to relate. The mediatheque of the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings not only contains countless audio recordings, videos and photos from more than 60 years of past meetings, it also comprises explanations, background information, translations and mini lectures, which are arranged in clusters and designed as introductions to selected topics. The videos of the lectures and panel debates from the 63rd Lindau Meeting can also be accessed in the mediatheque.

http://www.lindau-nobel.org/

Helmholtz awards research prizes and flexible research stays

The Helmholtz Association has awarded the Helmholtz International Fellow Award to 13 outstanding researchers. In addition to receiving funding of €20,000 each, the researchers are also invited to conduct research at one or more Helmholtz Centres. The timing of their research is flexible. The Helmholtz International Fellow Award honours excellent research and helps to establish new cooperation structures with international research institutions.

“We award the Helmholtz International Fellow Awards to researchers who have made an outstanding contribution to our research fields,” says Jürgen Mlynek, President of the Helmholtz Association. “We also aim to work with the best minds in science in order to pool our expertise and thus accelerate the search for solutions to the major challenges of our day.” Through their work, the Helmholtz Fellows also act as ambassadors for the Helmholtz Association.
The award is not aimed only at researchers – it is also awarded to science managers based outside Germany who have excelled in fields relevant to the Helmholtz Association. Candidates must be nominated for the award by a Helmholtz Centre working in the same research field as the respective candidates. The quality of the candidates’ research is the most important criterion for the award. Nominations may be made at any time. The Helmholtz Executive Committee selects the award winners.

The following researchers have received a Helmholtz International Fellow Award:

Prof. Chen Hesheng, Director of the Beijing Electron Positron Collider National Laboratory, Institute of High Energy Physics (IHEP), Chinese Academy of Sciences (China), nominated by Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY
Prof. Varda Rotter, Director of the Women’s Health Research Center at the Weizmann Institute of Science (Israel), nominated by the German Cancer Research Center
Prof. Dani Or, Professor at the Institute of Terrestrial Ecosystems at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (Switzerland), nominated by Forschungszentrum Jülich
Prof. Andrew A. Maudsley, Professor at the Department of Radiology at the University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine and Director of MR Research (USA), nominated by Forschungszentrum Jülich
Prof. Alexandra Czyrska-Filemonowicz, Director of the International Centre of Electron Microscopy for Materials Science at the AGH University of Science and Technology Kraków (Poland), nominated by Forschungszentrum Jülich
Prof. Yu Yuehui, Vice Director of the Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (China), nominated by Forschungszentrum Jülich
Prof. Craig Manning, Professor at the Department of Earth and Space Sciences at the University of California (USA), nominated by the Helmholtz Centre Potsdam ‒ German Research Centre for Geosciences – GFZ
Prof. Valerie Mizrahi, Director of the Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine at the University of Cape Town (South Africa), nominated by the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research
Prof. Pascale Cossart, Professeur Classe Exceptionnelle at the Institut Pasteur (France), nominated by the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research
Dr Emmanuelle Tsitrone, scientific advisor for fusion to the High Commissioner of CEA (France), nominated by the Max-Planck-Institut für Plasmaphysik
Prof. Zev Levin, Professor Emeritus at Tel Aviv University (Israel) and Professor at the Cyprus Institute (Cyprus), nominated by the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)
Prof. Yehudit Bergman, Professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem Medical School (Israel), nominated by the Max Delbruck Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch

Prof. Yoram Rubin, Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of California (USA), nominated by the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ

The Helmholtz Association contributes to solving major challenges facing society, science and the economy with top scientific achievements in six research fields: Energy; Earth and Environment; Health; Key Technologies; Structure of Matter; and Aeronautics, Space and Transport. With just under 34,000 employees in 18 research centres and an annual budget of approximately €3.4 billion, the Helmholtz Association is Germany’s largest scientific organisation. Its work follows in the tradition of the great natural scientist Hermann von Helmholtz (1821-1894).

www.helmholtz.de
www.helmholtz.de/socialmedia

Giving green chemistry a hand

• 63rd Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting: 30 June–5 July 2013 
• 35 Laureates and more than 600 young scientists from almost 80 countries 
• Catalysts as keys to sustainable development

Sustainability is not just another buzzword for the research chemists of today. Indeed many make an effort to conduct their work with the desire in mind to make a contribution towards sustainable development. ‘‘It’s so incredibly important that we chemists in particular take more responsibility for the environment,’’ stresses Melanie Mastronardi, a Canadian doctoral student from the University of Toronto. ‘‘That’s why I try to raise awareness for green chemistry technologies and methods, and endeavour to live up to this ideal in my own research.’’ Mastronardi is one of more than 600 young scientists from almost 80 countries who will be taking part in the 63rd Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting the first week of July. They will have the unique opportunity to exchange knowledge and ideas with 35 Nobel Laureates. The concept of ‘‘Green Chemistry’’ is one of the focal points on the meeting’s agenda. Biochemical processes and structures, as well as the generation, conversion and storage of chemical energy, will also be the subject of numerous speeches and discussions.

In the early 1990s, American chemists Paul Anastas and John C. Warner began formulating a concept of ‘‘Green Chemistry’’. The twelve principles of their concept are geared toward making chemical production as resource-sparing, energy-efficient and environmentally-compatible as possible. The aim is to avoid harmful raw materials and end products, to reduce waste and to minimise accident risks. The use of catalysts is of immense importance here. They effectively hasten chemical reactions that would otherwise take much too long: reactions are accelerated and less energy is needed. That’s why chemistry is all but inconceivable without catalysts in the modern era.

An oil industry discovery in the 1950s is what opened the door to environmentally friendly chemistry. During the process of steam cracking, researchers found it was possible, under certain conditions, to convert an unsaturated hydrocarbon, an alkene also known as an olefin, with a methyl group (propylene) into two other alkenes, one with two methyl groups and one with none. But it wasn’t until 1970 that French chemist Yves Chauvin was able to explain this phenomenon using the effect of a metallic catalyst. The latter caused the molecules to bind with each other temporarily so that they could exchange methyl groups. Chauvin received the 2005 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his detailed description of olefin metathesis along with Americans Robert Grubbs and Richard Schrock. In 1990 and 1992, they presented a number of particularly effective catalysts for metathesis and were instrumental in furthering the development of more efficient and environmentally friendly methods of synthesis for applications, such as pharmaceuticals and plastics.

In his speech on ‘‘Green Chemistry and Catalysis’’ at the 63rd Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting, Robert Grubbs will highlight the significance of catalysts for the transition to a bio-based economy. One of the keys, for him, lies in developing carbon sources from renewable resources, with the help of metathesis, for use in industrial processing. This chemical method enables certain plant components to be split into saturated and unsaturated hydrocarbons. The former finds application as fuels of various kinds and the latter can be used as staples for the organic synthesis of materials such as plastics. However, the process is only sustainable if the raw materials it employs are not harvested in a way that competes with food production; in other words they must come from the non-edible parts of plants. Bio refineries, for example, should one day be capable of recycling wood chips or straw for both energy and material on an industrial scale.

A panel discussion to close this year’s Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting will see experts debating the prospects for the concept of green chemistry. Participants will include Chemistry Nobel Laureate Mario Molina from Mexico and Physics Nobel Laureate Steven Chu from the USA. Molina was awarded the 1995 Nobel Prize in Chemistry together with Dutchman Paul Crutzen and American Frank Sherwood Rowland, for research on the ozone layer. Chu served as Energy Secretary in US President Barack Obama’s first administration. The two men will be joined by German chemist Michael Braungart, who co-developed the ‘‘cradle-to-cradle’’ concept of the environmentally friendly resource cycle. The discussion will take place on Mainau Island in Lake Constance, the very place where the ‘‘Green Charter of Mainau’’ was signed in 1961. This was one of the very first sustainability initiatives and came about at the instigation of Count Lennart Bernadotte, co-founder of the Lindau Meetings. The concept of sustainability has taken on increasing significance at the Lindau Meetings themselves, as debates on the influence and the responsibility of the scientific community extend beyond the circle of meeting participants and into society at large.

www.lindau-nobel.org

Efficient Production Process for Coveted Nanocrystals

Ce(IV) dimers and trimers form in aqueous
solution nanometer-sized cer dioxide crystals
(CeO2). The size of the nanocrystals is in the
order of two to three nanometers.
Picture: Ikeda-Ohno

A formation mechanism of nanocrystalline cerium dioxide (CeO2), a versatile nanomaterial, has been unveiled by scientists from the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) and the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. The research results were published in the scientific journal Chemistry – A European Journal (DOI:  10.1002/chem.201204101). This finding potentially simplifies and alleviates the existing synthetic processes of nanocrystalline CeO2 production.

Nanocrystalline CeO2 particles are widely used, for example, in catalysts for hazardous gas treatment, in electrodes for solid oxide fuel cells, in polishing materials for advanced integrated circuits, in sunscreen cosmetics, and in such medical applications as artificial superoxide dismutase. Current industrial syntheses of nanocrystalline CeO2 are based on sol-gel processes followed by thermal treatment and/or the addition of accelerant reagents. Any further improvement of the synthetic strategy for CeO2 nanocrystals requires a better understanding of the mechanisms involved in their formation at the atomic scale.

Dr. Atsushi Ikeda-Ohno from the University of New South Wales, Australia, together with Dr. Christoph Hennig from the HZDR opted for a sophisticated multi-spectroscopic approach that combines dynamic light scattering and synchrotron-based X-ray techniques. These complex investigations involved the use of two world-leading synchrotron facilities of the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) in Grenoble, France, and SPring-8 in Hyogo, Japan.

Live Monitoring

For the first time ever, the scientists were able to perform an in-situ observation of nanocrystal evolution. So far, little has been known of the formation mechanism of metal nanocrystals; mainly because appropriate analytical techniques were lacking. The most widely used techniques for metal nanocrystal research are electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. They are powerful enough to visualize the appearance of nanocrystals and to acquire their lattice information, but they are not applicable to the solution state where the evolution of metal nanocrystals occurs. “To probe the formation of nanocrystalline CeO2 in an aqueous solution, we combined different spectroscopic techniques, including dynamic light scattering, synchrotron X-ray absorption spectroscopy, and high energy X-ray scattering,” says Dr. Atsushi Ikeda-Ohno.

The information the researchers obtained is fundamental to simplifying and alleviating the synthetic process of CeO2 nanocrystals. They revealed that uniformly sized nanoparticles of CeO2 can be produced simply by pH adjustment of tetravalent cerium (Ce(IV)) in an aqueous solution without subsequent physical/chemical treatment such as heating or adding accelerant chemicals. The produced CeO2 crystals have a uniform particle size of 2 - 3 nanometers, irrespective of the preparation conditions (e.g. pH and type of pH adjustment). This particle size is exactly in the range which is interesting for industrial applications. A key finding is that mononuclear Ce(IV) solution species do not result in nano-sized CeO2 crystals. The prerequisite is the presence of oligomeric Ce(IV) solution species, such as dimers or trimers.

“We’re indeed very glad that our multi-spectroscopic approach is also applicable to any other research on metal nanocrystals. That’s why this study contributes to an emerging research area on metal nanocrystals in a broader context,” says Dr. Christoph Hennig. “And the HZDR’s own measuring station at the ESRF provides the best possible opportunities for this research area of metal nanocrystals which directly contributes to industrial applications.”
____________________________


Publication:
A. Ikeda-Ohno et al., Chem. Eur. J., 19(23), 7348-7360 (2013), DOI: 10.1002/chem.201204101.
____________________________

Further Information:
Dr. Atsushi Ikeda-Ohno
School of Civil and Environmental Engineering
The University of New South Wales
UNSW, Sydney, New South Wales 2052, Australia
Phone: +61 2 9385 0128
a.ikeda@unsw.edu.au

Dr. Christoph Hennig | Dr. Vinzenz Brendler
Institute of Ressource Ecology at HZDR
Rossendorf Beamline at the ESRF/Grenoble
Phone: +33 476 88 - 2005 | +49 351 260 - 3210
hennig@esrf.fr | v.brendler@hzdr.de

Strong signals and high expectations

• Chemistry Nobel Laureate Brian Kobilka on the future of drug development
• 63rd Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting: 30 June–5 July 2013 
• 35 laureates and more than 600 young scientists from almost 80 countries

Ch. Flemming/Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings;
The Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings foster the inter-generational
 dialogue among excellent scientists.
Physicist Brian Schmidt (left) was among the participants in 2012

A clear indication for more effective and better-tolerated drugs is what many are hoping for. Since the mid-1980s, expectations surrounding the decoding of the genetic blueprint of G protein- coupled receptors (GPCRs) have been high, given that half of all medicinal drugs deploy their effect through these molecular antennae. GPCRs are specially embedded in the surface of cells in our body, passing through the cell membrane seven times and activating proteins, known as G proteins, on the inside of the cell membrane. It is these that transmit the signals from most hormones and neurotransmitters. Without GPCRs we would not be able to see, taste or smell. American physicians Brian Kobilka and Robert Lefkowitz were honoured with the 2012 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the discovery and structural elucidation of GPCRs. However, the number of innovative drugs that work on the basis of GPCRs and have been approved for use to date is fewer than had been expected. Brian Kobilka’s speech, which will open the scientific programme of the 63rd Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting in the first week of July, will illustrate the challenges and difficulties facing drug discovery today. The significance of the relatively new knowledge about spatial structure and three-dimensional functionality of GPCRs for the future of drug development holds great interest not only for the 600 young scientists and researchers at this meeting.

As a medical student, Brian Kobilka worked in a hospital’s intensive care unit, where one of the things he learned was how the hormone adrenaline can save a person’s life by increasing their heart rate. Just a few years before, Robert Lefkowitz was the first to demonstrate the presence of adrenaline receptors, whose existence had been disputed up to then. The topic caught Kobilka’s imagination and he resolved to study these receptors in more detail. As a post-doc in Lefkowitz’s lab, Kobilka helped to decode the genetic blueprint of the beta2 adrenaline receptor. But only tiny amounts of the receptor could be isolated, making it impossible to reconstruct any more than individual fragments of the complete blueprint. Nevertheless, he did manage to use these fragments as probes in a genetic library and decode the complete structure of the beta2 adrenaline receptor gene by employing an immensely creative and incredibly tedious method.

The results of his analyses, published in 1986, were intriguing: the adrenaline receptor actually resembled rhodopsin, the retina’s light receptor which is folded seven times. The two receptors were evidently related despite having completely different functions -- both being members of the GPCR family, which as we now know incorporates almost 800 distinct receptors in humans.

From then on, Brian Kobilka was obsessed with GPCRs. Filled with ‘‘irrational optimism’’, as he puts it, he set his mind to elucidating the form and functionality of the adrenaline receptor with the help of X-ray crystallography. He had few competitors in the early days; most scientists considered it a futile endeavour. It took 18 years for Kobilka to grow tiny crystals of the receptor, finally accomplishing that in 2004. Still, the crystals yielded no useful structural data. Another three years passed before Kobilka was able to decode the adrenaline receptor’s atomic structure in 2007. In 2011 he he successfully visualised the structure of a receptor in action -- a masterful performance.

The knowledge of this spatial structure and functionality finally gave pharmaceutical research scientists direct access to the atomic structure of GPCRs. Most medicinal drugs that work through GPCRs were already known before the receptor family itself had been discovered. Once their genetic code had been revealed, the intensive search for new drugs could begin with the help of high-throughput screening -- something which has been on-going for the last two decades. In further stages of the development chain, many of the discovered substances have neither proved to be effective enough nor to be sufficiently well-tolerated. A perfectly accurate, differentiated structure of active ingredients could change all that -- something which the elucidation of GPCR structures has brought within reach. At the 63rd Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting, Brian Kobilka will be discussing with young scientists how this could be extremely promising for future drug discovery and development.

Since 1951, the annual Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings have offered scientists an internationally acclaimed forum for exchange and networking. The intergenerational dialogue between Nobel Laureates and young scientists provides significant impetus and new ideas for universal collaboration in science and research.

www.lindau-nobel.org

Full of energy: Intergenerational dialogue among elite scientists

• 63rd Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting from 30 June to 5 July 2013
• 35 Laureates and more than 600 young scientists from close to 80 countries
• One topic: Future models of energy conversion and storage

Ch. Flemming/Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings

You could call it an energy summit of a very special kind when 35 Nobel Laureates congregate at Lake Constance for the 63rd Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting in the first week of July. Why? Because the generation, conversion and storage of energy is one of the most important fields of research in chemistry, the discipline for this year’s meeting. ‘‘It’s fascinating to learn from nature such things as how our existing ways of using solar energy can be improved,’’ says 25-year-old chemist David Bialas, doctoral student at the University of Würzburg. David is one of more than 600 young scientists from approximately 80 countries participating in the meeting from 30 June to 5 July. They represent the next generation of leading scientists and researchers. ‘‘I am impressed by the expertise, the inquisitiveness and the energy of the young participants. The meeting offers them a unique opportunity for the intercultural and intergenerational exchange of knowledge and ideas, and for networking,’’ declares the German Chemistry Nobel Laureate Hartmut Michel, speaking about his 16th attendance at a Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting. This year’s lectures and discussions will also focus on such topics as biochemical processes and structures and Green Chemistry.

David Bialas is studying organic solar cells for his PhD. In these cells silicon, the classic semiconductor, is replaced by cheaper organic materials. Their efficiency is still relatively low, but in as little as ten years solar cells of this kind could be covering entire buildings in transparent, rollable sheets that would catch more than enough sun to supply the building with power. Bialas is looking forward to meeting in Lindau the 1992 Chemistry Nobel Laureate Rudolph Marcus, who will be reporting on his work with solar cells at the California Institute of Technology. ‘‘Marcus has revolutionised the work with electron transfer processes. His findings are vital to my own research,’’ says Bialas. Electron transfer processes are what underlie photosynthesis in plants, for example. The energy from the sunlight is transferred by electrons at lightning-fast speed. While it is true that natural photosynthesis cannot yet be replicated artificially, it does serve as a model for the optimum utilisation of solar energy and as inspiration for the development of innovative solar cells.

The mechanisms and methods by which available energy like sunlight can be converted into electricity with greater efficiency -- and then stored -- in the future are due to be debated in the Lindau Meeting’s panel discussion on ‘‘Chemical Energy Storage and Conversion’’. Graham de Ruiter, a post-doc at Israel’s Weizmann Institute of Science, can’t wait for the debate, given that it will focus in part on his own fields of research, surface chemistry and catalysis. Among the experts in these disciplines are the Chemistry Nobel Laureates Gerhard Ertl (Germany, 2007), Robert Grubbs (USA, 2005) and Richard Schrock (USA, 2005). They will be taking part in the discussion together with Laureates Walter Kohn (USA, 1998) and Hartmut Michel (Germany, 1988). The panel will have a proven photosynthesis expert onboard in Hartmut Michel, who is outspoken in his opposition to biofuels for combustion-engine vehicles, campaigning instead for electricity harvested from solar cells to be used in the batteries of electric cars.

Developing batteries with sizeable storage capacity is a key challenge for the field of electrochemistry. The development of new materials is of considerable importance here. One of the promising chemical energy-storage media is hydrogen: a substantial portion of the energy needed to produce it by electrolysis of water can be regained when it is converted back into water inside fuel cells. Renewable energy for the electrolysis can already be drawn from solar cells with an efficiency significantly in excess of ten percent. However, it would be much cheaper if sunlight itself could split water directly and effectively. Photocatalytic water splitting currently has an efficiency of just under one percent. This is what makes it a big topic for the future for many of the young scientists coming to Lindau: ‘‘I’m investigating iron oxide photoelectrodes for splitting water,’’ reports 31-year-old Hen Dotan, an Israeli post-doc at the Technion in Haifa. ‘‘This is a research field that promises to open up practicable ways of converting and storing solar energy. It’s one of the keys to sustainable development.’’

Since 1951, the annual Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings have offered scientists a globally- respected forum for exchange and networking. The intergenerational dialogue between Nobel Laureates and young scientists provides significant impulses and new ideas for international collaboration in science and research.

www.lindau-nobel.org

SUNBURST: An installation by Melissa Marks

suntrap: SUNBURST

@ Melissa Marks/ Joya: arte + ecologia

SUNBURST: Volitia Escapes

New York artist Melissa Marks is returning, on behalf of Joya: arte + ecología, to Cortijada Los Gázquez to pursue an ongoing dialogue with her 2011 installation, SUNTRAP. @ Melissa Marks/ Joya: arte + ecologia

Suntrap: Volitia Finds Some Freedom   This second discourse is entitled SUNBURST. We will see the artists work extend beyond the confines of the original installation space reaching across the expansive white walls and endless sunshine in a monochrome evolution of ideas and obsessions. ‘A trap is a lure, a burst is an explosion A wall is a line, a garden is sanctuary A façade is a surface, the interior is us SUNTRAP is a catch of trapped energy. A line in motion, tempted by Nature, is free to enact its fantasies inside a protected space. The installation space at Los Gázquez is an extraordinary intersection of history and the thoughtful work of contemporary minds and hands. It is a container that holds in its care both the material realities of shelter and the magical opportunity of art. The sun is ever-present, a powerful resource, an unambivalent contributor. SUNBURST is the sequel, a response to overflow, a release, an escape. The trap has a yield. It is waiting. The line is loose, an exile in the landscape, exposed. The release, a concentrated outpouring or the inevitable expression of internal pressure, is an event. There are consequences. It is movement, once again, that animates the ecosystem and commands our attention. It is outrageous to be able to consider the adventure again, this time from the outside in. SUNTRAP: Volitia Finds Some Freedom SUNBURST: Volitia Escapes’ Melissa Marks http://www.joyaarteyecologia-blog.org/marks-whatisee/ http://www.melissamarks.com http://www.losgazquez.com

Asian universities set to dominate global rankings within two decades

London, 11 June 2013: Asian universities have gained significant ground on their Western counterparts and could overtake them within two decades, say the compilers of QS University Rankings: Asia, released today on www.topuniversities.com.  

Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) tops the ranking, ahead of National University of Singapore (NUS) and Hong Kong University (HKU), which tie for second place. Korean institutions Seoul National University (4) and KAIST (7) and POSTECH (7=) all feature prominently, while China’s Peking University moves up one place to fifth, its highest ever position.

                                2013 QS University Rankings Asia: Top 10

2013	2012	Institution	Country Territory
1	1	The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST)	Hong Kong
2=	3	National University of Singapore (NUS)	Singapore
2=	2	University of Hong Kong (HKU)	Hong Kong
4	4	Seoul National University (SNU)	Korea
5	6	Peking University	China
6	7	KAIST - Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology	Korea
7=	9	Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH)	Korea
7=	5	The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)	Hong Kong
9	8	The University of Tokyo	Japan
10=	10	Kyoto University	Japan
10=	17	Nanyang Technological University (NTU)	Singapore

© QS Quacquarelli Symonds 2004-2013 www.topuniversities.com

View Top 300: www.TopUniversities.com/AsiaRankings

 “Asian higher education is undergoing a rapid transformation, and Singapore, Hong Kong, China and Korea are at the forefront of the assault on the global academic elite,” says Ben Sowter, head of QS Intelligence Unit, which also compiles the QS World University Rankings.

“There are already 17% more Asian universities in the global top 200 since the recession, and the next two decades could see leading US and European universities objectively overtaken.”  

Asian universities featured in the global top 10 in 15 of the 30 disciplines covered in 2013 QS World University Rankings by Subject, published in May 2013. Nine of the top 20 institutions in civil engineering are Asian, compared to just five for the US and UK combined.

Now in their fifth edition, QS University Rankings: Asia also shows a five-year surge in international students studying at ranked institutions in the region, from 175,286 in 2009 to 255,212 this year. Total international faculty has grown from 21,223 to 35,677.

“As Western governments struggle to maintain funding levels, Asian institutions have rapidly increased their ability to attract the world’s best faculty and students,” says Sowter. “As the cost of studying rises in North America and the UK, Asia is reversing the brain drain by investing in scholarships to attract top students from the West.” 

The rankings provide less encouraging news for Japan, which sees its top institution, University of Tokyo slip to ninth, its lowest ever position. Of the leading ten Japanese Universities, just one ranks higher than last year, while six rank lower.

 The rapid speed of change in the region is on display in a complementary ranking, QS Top 50 under 50, which ranks universities established since 1963. Asia boasts five of the world’s top six young institutions, a forecast of a future realignment of the global balance of power from West to East.

                         2013 QS Top 50 UNDER 50 (Top 10)

Rank	2012 *WUR	2013 *WUR	Institution	Country Territory
1	33	40	The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST)	Hong Kong
2	47	58	Nanyang Technological University (NTU)	Singapore
3	58	50	The University of Warwick	UK
4	63	90	KAIST - Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology	Korea
5	95=	110	City University of Hong Kong	Hong Kong
6	97	98	Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH)	Korea
7	107	109	Maastricht University	Netherlands
8	155	148	University of California, Irvine (UCI)	USA
9	159	177	The Hong Kong Polytechnic University	Hong Kong
10	163	153	Lancaster University	UK

© QS Quacquarelli Symonds 2004-2013 www.topuniversities.com

View full results: http://topuniversities.com/top-50-under-50

*QS World University Rankings

The rigor and authority of this year’s QS University Rankings: Asia has been underlined by the official approval of its methodology and data collection processes from the IREG Observatory on Academic Ranking and Excellence (IREG) along with the QS WorldUniversity Rankings and QS UniversityRankings: Latin America.

The decision to award the IREG Approved” label has come at the end of a comprehensive independent audit, verifying that the rankings are compiled professionally and with a transparent methodology, observe good practices, and respond to a need for relevant information from a range of stakeholders, in particular students, higher education institutions, employers and policy makers.

The approval will last until 31 December 2016.

QS Quacquarelli Symonds

Since 1990, QS has become established as the world’s leading network for top careers and education. Producers of the QS World University Rankings®, QS’s innovative research, events, publications and university solutions provide new ways of bringing universities into contact with the best and brightest students worldwide.

QS World University Rankings ®

The QS World University Rankings is an annual league table of the top 700 universities in the world and is arguably the best-known and respected ranking of its kind. Compiled by the QS Intelligence Unit in close consultation with an international advisory board of leading academics, the QS World University Rankings ® is widely referenced by prospective and current students, university professionals and governments worldwide. The purpose of the rankings has been to recognize universities as the multi-faceted organizations they are and to provide a global comparison of their success against the notional mission of remaining or becoming world-class. The rankings are based on four key pillars, research, teaching, employability and internationalization.

For more information, please contact:

Simona Bizzozero simona@qs.com

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