{"id":2883,"date":"2014-12-11T15:49:10","date_gmt":"2014-12-11T14:49:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.embl.de\/?p=2883"},"modified":"2022-06-18T00:43:31","modified_gmt":"2022-06-17T22:43:31","slug":"1412_yonath","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/news\/lab-matters\/1412_yonath\/","title":{"rendered":"Dinner with a Nobel Laureate"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Since winning the Nobel Prize in 2009 for her work on solving the structure of the ribosome, the Israeli born crystallographer has done her fair share of travelling and talking. During her few days on the site shared by EMBL Hamburg, she gave a number of presentations, including the renowned Jentschke Lecture, met current DESY scientists, gave interviews, and dined with students and members of the DESY directorate. On the evening of 30 October, it was the turn of EMBL PhD students and postdocs, who joined Yonath for a dinner they will never forget. Here, they share their highlights:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"vf-blockquote\"><p>Her&nbsp;optimism and her innovative ideas will act as guidance for my future in science<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI gained a lot more than just scientific knowledge: I saw her passion and motivation for work. When she described her efforts that led to the Noble Prize, she said that she never gave up, regardless of her colleagues\u2019 advice. This optimism and her innovative ideas will act as guidance for my future in science.&#8221; \u2013 Magda Chegkazi, PhD student, Meijers group<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI loved to see how such an important scientist, who lived an intense life and made great discoveries, still keeps her curiosity and spontaneity alive like a young researcher. She made us feel like we were the \u2018old\u2019 ones. Indeed, she made fun of us: \u2018I thought I was going for dinner with predocs and postdocs,\u2019 she said, \u2018But I find myself dining with housewives!\u2019\u201d Erica Valentini, PhD student, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.embl.org\/groups\/svergun\/\">Svergun group<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"vf-blockquote\"><p>It was amazing to sit on the same table and share a casual meal with someone so inspiring<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe dinner was a very enriching experience. Discussing her work and life was inspiring and encouraging. She is a modest and pleasant person, interested in the problems young scientists face in their work, with the power to motivate people.\u201d \u2013 Spyros Chatziefthimiou, Postdoc, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.embl.org\/groups\/wilmanns\/\">Wilmanns group<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt was amazing to sit on the same table and share a casual meal with someone so inspiring: a passionate scientist that still works in the lab, is down to earth and followed her passion even when the odds were against her. Such meetings are of great importance for young scientists like us, showing that we can reach high if we follow our passion.\u201d \u2013 Joana Pereira, PhD student, Lamzin group<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"vf-blockquote\"><p>I now know better Ada Yonath the person, not just the scientist<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cShe was down to earth, despite the fame and the glory that followed the Nobel prize \u2013 a great example for female scientists especially, showing that it\u2019s possible to combine family with a great career.\u201d \u2013 Natasha Giannopoulou, PhD student, Wilmanns group<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThis was a very special moment in my scientific career \u2013 to listen to her lecture and then discuss various topics in person, including my own research. What made this all the more interesting was the social component \u2013 I now know better Ada Yonath the person, not just the scientist.\u201d \u2013 Nabil Hanna, postdoc, Wilmanns Group<\/p>\n\n\n<hr class=\"vf-divider\"\/>\n\n\n<p>Yonath worked on the EMBL beamlines during her time as head of a unit of the Max Planck Institute at DESY from 1986 to 2004. Over this time, she collected the data that resulted in the Nobel-winning ribosome structure. During an earlier visit to EMBL Hamburg this year, she expressed her gratitude for the Laboratory\u2019s support and encouragement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The day EMBL Hamburg predocs and postdocs invited Nobel Prize Winner Ada Yonath to dinner.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":2884,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[53,25,35],"embl_taxonomy":[],"class_list":["post-2883","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lab-matters","tag-hamburg","tag-partnerships","tag-structural-biology"],"acf":{"article_intro":"<p>From the Holy See to DESY, it was a typically busy week for Nobel Laureate Ada Yonath recently: one day visiting the Pope in Rome and the next celebrating 50 years of photon science at the German Electron Synchrotron (DESY) in Hamburg.<\/p>\n","related_links":false,"vf_locked":false,"featured":true,"show_featured_image":false,"field_target_display":"embl","source_article":false,"in_this_article":false,"press_contact":"None"},"embl_taxonomy_terms":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.2 - 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