Hope Meetings are an excellent initiative for advancing research. The meeting harnesses young talents for continuity in quality research. It is an ideal platform for learning from the experiences of great scientists.
The 14th Hope meeting with Nobel Laureates held earlier this year at Tsukuba City, Japan, was the experience of a lifetime. The meeting consisted of various activities, including lectures and group discussions with the Nobel Laureates, poster presentations by the participants, and working in teams of participants for presentations. For all the Nobel Laureates, the discoveries that won them the Nobel prizes were realised accidentally. The lecture sessions clarified that patience, persistence and hard work are critical to a successful research career. This provided a platform for networking with young researchers from Asia-Pacific and Africa. The poster sessions let us be up-to-date with the current research trends and network with fellows from relevant research fields. The networking platform afforded by the meeting promotes the formation of research collaborations with researchers from different areas and regions, thus breeding interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary research collaborations. In preparation for team presentations, we learnt perspectives and motivation in team members’ research. The team presentation preparations allowed teamwork and learning the art of being a team player. I was impressed by the ingenuity of presentation styles in the team presentations. To see pure scientists present in an artistic manner was thrilling.
The visit to research institutions excited me as a scientist, specifically the experience at the National Institute of Materials Science (NIMS). The research capacity at NIMS is exemplary. It has high-end research equipment, including equipment for materials synthesis and analysis. I would have also wished to visit the High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK). Overall, Hope Meetings is an excellent initiative for advancing research. The meeting harnesses young talents for continuity in quality research. It is an ideal platform for learning from the experiences of great scientists. The conference affirmed that I was on the right track and motivated me to do my best in my research career.
Article submitted by Tabitha Amollo
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