9 Nobel Laureates to attend Nobel Prize exhibition and Dialogue at Gujarat Science City

Ahmedabad: Chief Secretary of Gujarat J.N.Singh today in a media interaction held here shared further details on upcoming five-week long Nobel Prize Series Exhibition and Nobel Laureates Symposium at Gujarat Science City in Ahmedabad. Both events will take place on the occassion of Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors Summit 2017, scheduled to take place during 9-10 January in capital Gandhinagar.

According to Chief Secretary, the five-week long Nobel Prize Series Exhibition at Gujarat Science City in Ahmedabad will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi in the presence of nine Nobel Laureates, the Chief Minister of Gujarat and other invitees on 9th January 2017.

The Nobel Prize Series Exhibition, which will run for 5 weeks here will see series of events including seminars for school children, college students, young entrepreneurs and researches. As a special attraction to the event, Science based movies will be showcased at IMAX at Science City, Ahmedabad on different themes like sky, space, science, ocean etc.

The Nobel Series Exhibition will have featured content from the Nobel Media on five themes. Besides covering features on the Nobel Prize and Alfred Nobel, the exhibits will also cover themes of Nobel Prize over decades, Nobel Prize in our daily lives and Nobel Prize and the future.

Gujarat government is planning to bring students from across the state to this exhibition during which entry to Science city will be free. District wise days will be allocated for students. Shows of Nobel prize related movies, interaction with Nobel media representatives will be part of exhibition visits.

The exhibition will travel to different parts of India during next five years period, starting from Gujarat.

The Chief Secretary in his briefing said, this has become possible thanks to the tripartite MoU signed by the Nobel Media AB (Sweden); the Government of India(represented by Department of Biotechnology of the Ministry of Science and Technology); and the Government of Gujarat(represented by the Department of Science & Technology).

Among the Nobel Laureates making their presence is India-born and Gujarat-educated Dr. Veknatraman Ramakrishnan. Dr. Ramakrishnan had a long-standing interest in rebosome structure and function. He shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry with fellow scientists Thomas A Steitz and Ada Yunath, globally known for her work on protein biosynthesis and antibiotics paralyzing it, who will also be joining the Laureates attending the Nobel Exhibition. Other scientists who will be present during Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit 2017 include Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine in 1993, Dr. Richard J Robers; Nobel Prize winner in Physiology or Medicine of 1989, Dr. Harold Varmus; 2004 Nobel Prize winner in Physics Dr. David J Gross – also a member of the Indian Academy of Science; 2012 Nobel Prize winner in Physics, Dr. Serge Haroche; 2013 Nobel Prize winner in Physiology or Medicine, Dr. Randy Schekman, 2014 Nobel Prize in Chemistry Laureate Dr. W E Moerner and Prof. Dr. H.C. Hartumut Michel, who received the 1988 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

Along with the Nobel Prize series exhibition to be organized at Science City, a Nobel Laureate Dialogue is organized at Mahatma Mandir on 10th January 2017 which will consist of two panel-discussions on – ‘Science for Humankind’, where the Nobel Laureates will discuss ways to foster a truly innovative environment in the society and ‘Science as the Engine for Economic Growth’ where the Nobel Laureates will discuss how science can impact the lives of people and play a vital role in uplifting mankind.

Sessions of interaction with Nobel Laureates will be relayed live to schools and simultaneously translated to Gujarati for the students according to Chief Secretary J.N.Singh who also added that Nobel Laureates will interact to students at three places namely IIT Gandhinagar, M.S. University Vadodara and Gujarat University in Ahmedabad for few hours on January 10. Nobel Laureate Dr Venkatraman will be in M.S. University on January 11 during 3 to 5.30 pm. Two Nobel laureate professors will be in Gujarat University on January 10 during 1 to 5 pm while two will visit IIT Gandhinagar. One Nobel Laureate will return to home country on January 10 while others will return on January 11 evening.

CEO of Nobel Media will also remain present along with the minister from Sweden. India’s Principal Scientific Advisor, 56 top scientists of India including scientists from Council of Scientific Research, DRDO, ICM, Vice Chancellors of IITs, Director of IISC, ambassadors of 5 countries and 10 secretaries from the centre are among those who are going to attend the Nobel Laureate symposium.

Chief Secretary Singh said, “this is the first time India will see a session with Nobel Laureates from across the world in the field of science, coming to Gujarat and sharing their valuable knowledge and insights with students and industry leaders. So far, 9 Nobel Laureates have confirmed their participation for Nobel Laureates Dialogue and to Science City, Ahmedabad for Nobel Prize Exhibition. The knowledge and unparalleled exposure our students and academicians will receive, during their interaction with Nobel Laureates, will truly be priceless.”

DeshGujarat