Published 1 June 2026 by LINO News
Between Lindau and Stockholm: Alumni Help Shape 75th Anniversary of the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings
What impact does a week in Lindau have on the course of a life in science? Three Nobel Laureates know this quite well, because before they stood in Stockholm to receive the world’s most prestigious scientific award, they sat in the audience in Lindau as young researchers.
Michel H. Devoret, awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2025, returns to Lindau this year, fifty years after attending as a Young Scientist – a powerful symbol of continuity across generations. Morten Meldal, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry in 2022, will participate in a Lindau Meeting for the fourth time since attending in the late 1980s. Bert Sakmann, awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1991, participated in the Lindau Meetings early in his career and has returned often since then.
Three disciplines, three scientific careers that passed through Lindau on their way to Stockholm – and now return, closing a circle that illustrates the long-term impact of the Meetings. Since 1951, the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings have been built on the conviction that personal exchange between generations accelerates discovery, opens unexpected pathways, and shapes scientific identity. The trajectories of Sakmann, Meldal, and Devoret bring this conviction to life – not only in retrospect, but in their continued engagement with the Lindau community.
Alumni Driving Dialogue at #LINO75
The unique anniversary programme of the interdisciplinary 75th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting (28 June – 3 July 2026) reflects the active role of Lindau Alumni. A Science Diplomacy Breakfast on 1 July 2026 will bring together participants to discuss the role of science in international cooperation. Moderated by Lindau Alumna 2024 Ona Ambrozaite, co-founder of Science Diplomacy Grid, featuring 2019 Alumnus and 2025 MacArthur Fellow Sébastien Philippe, and 2025 Lindau Alumnus Mirco Rossini, the session will discuss nuclear proliferation and academic freedom as important case studies to give the participating students and early-career researchers insights into the way scientists can address global challenges through diplomacy.
Two workshops on 2 July 2026 further exemplify how Lindau Alumni not only carry the Lindau Spirit forward but stay engaged in strengthening the values at the heart of the Lindau Meetings’ mission. Lindau Alumnus Leonhard Möckl (FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg and Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light) and Scientific Co-Chair Pernilla Wittung-Stafshede (Rice University) will use the Lindau Guidelines as basis to discuss new ways for scientists to shape the interaction between science and the public space. The Lindau Guidelines, inspired by Nobel Laureate Elizabeth Blackburn, are an initiative for an open, cooperative science community where data and knowledge are freely shared.
The Breaking Barriers in Science initiative, launched at the end of the 2025 Lindau Meeting, continues to progress with a workshop led by Lindau Alumni Silvia Favero, Méline Parent, Clara von Randow, and Fiona Wasson. After initial topic suggestions by selected Young Scientists, the workshop will address the focus areas mental and physical health, career precarity and visibility, discrimination and inclusion, and global inequality. The session, facilitated by Nobel Prize Outreach’s Adam Smith, aims to develop concrete suggestions on how to improve systemic issues in these areas for the global science community.
Lindau Moments: A Campaign for the 75th Anniversary
A new weekly video series, Lindau Moments, showcases portraits of Lindau Alumni in the lead-up to and during the 75th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting. Through short, personal narratives, the campaign makes visible how Lindau shapes scientific careers across generations and disciplines.
Featured voices include returning Nobel Laureates Michel Devoret and Morten Meldal, alongside leading Alumni such as Amanda Randles (2024 ACM Prize in Computing, Duke University) illustrating the breadth of the Lindau network and its sustained global influence.
The Lindau Moments video series can be found on YouTube as well as on LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook.
Statistical Confirmation: The First Alumni Impact Survey
These individual success stories are now complemented by quantitative evidence. The first Lindau Alumni Impact Survey, conducted in winter 2025 among 238 participants spanning more than six decades, confirms what alumni have long described: that a week in Lindau leaves lasting traces on careers, networks, and perspectives. 15 percent of respondents maintain active connections with one or more Nobel Laureates.
82 percent remain active in research or higher education. Many participants shared detailed personal accounts – often with concrete examples of how Lindau shaped key decisions, collaborations, or research directions.
Looking Ahead: #LINO75
From 28 June to 3 July 2026, the 75th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting will bring together around 70 Nobel Laureates and more than 600 Young Scientists from around the world. Among them are researchers whose names may one day be celebrated in Stockholm – and who, like Devoret and Meldal, may return decades later themselves to engage with the next generation of scientists.
