Syracuse University student selected to meet Nobel Laureates

Syracuse University student selectedto meet Nobel LaureatesJune 25, 2004Edward Byrnesedbyrnes@syr.edu

Syracuse University graduate student Joshua Dalrymple has been selected by the National Science Foundation (NSF) as one of 25 outstanding research participants to attend the 54th Lindau Meeting of Nobel Laureates and Students, to be held in Lindau, Germany, from June 27-July 2.

Since 1951, Nobel Laureates in chemistry, physics and physiology/medicine have annually convened in Lindau to have open and informal meetings with students and young researchers from around the world. The meetings rotate by discipline each year, with this year’s focus on physics.

Dalrymple, of San Angelo, Texas, is studying physics at SU, specializing in experimental relativity. His current dissertation work is in data analysis with the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) under the supervision of one of SU’s leading physicists, Professor Peter Saulson. The $500-million dollar NSF-funded LIGO Scientific Collaboration embraces more than 44 academic institutions around the globe and holds the potential to help answer fundamental questions about the dynamics, origin and structure of the universe.

The NSF’s participants, as well as 33 other students sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) to represent the United States, will join more than 500 international students at the meeting.

The primary purpose of the meeting is to allow participants?most of whom are students?to benefit from informal interaction with the Nobel Prize winners. During the meeting, Laureates will lecture on physics topics of their choice. Laureates will also preside over informal roundtable sessions exclusively for students. During lunches and dinners, Laureates will join participants at local restaurants for additional informal discussions. Various social events are also on the agenda, including an evening dinner gala to allow participants to meet attendees from other countries.

On July 2, participants will travel by ferry to the Isle of Mainau for the closing ceremonies at the baroque Mainau Castle, the residence of Swedish patron Count Lennart Bernadotte, who began the Lindau meetings in 1951. That afternoon, the U.S. participants will return to Munich for the flight home or continue traveling through Europe on their own.

A Web site, http://www.orau.gov/lindau2004, has been set up to post daily information while students are attending the meeting. Each day, photos and a summary of events will be posted.

The Web site and travel arrangements for all participants are being administered by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE), which is managed by ORAU for the DOE.

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