How does it feel to discuss science with Nobel Prize winners or sit at the same table with them? Lucie Ráčková of Masaryk University attended the prestigious Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings. Alongside inspiring encounters, she also came away with food for thought and a more critical perspective on science.
During the Thirty Years’ War, Lindau, like Brno, withstood Swedish invaders. Yet today, this small town in southern Germany bears a distinct Scandinavian imprint. Every year, it hosts a meeting between Nobel laureates and students from around the world. And it is not only about the famous inventor whose will established the prestigious scientific award. One of the founders of the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings in 1951 was Prince Lennart Bernadotte, a descendant of the Swedish royal family, who had made his home on the nearby island of Mainau as early as the beginning of the 1930s.
This year, the gathering of leading scientists and students took place for the 75th time at the end of June and beginning of July, in the island district of the town near the borders with Austria and Switzerland. Masaryk University was represented there as well. One of just four students and postdocs from the Czech Republic attending the meeting was Dr Lucie Ráčková, a graduate of the Faculty of Science at Masaryk University, who works at the First Department of Neurology at St. Anne’s University Hospital and the Faculty of Medicine at Masaryk University and is a member of the Rector’s Working Group for Space Research and Astronautics.
Lucie Ráčková researches stress in extreme conditions and also contributes to the preparation of so-called analogue astronauts for simulated space missions. She was among 600 students selected from thousands of applicants who undergo a comprehensive selection process. During her week-long stay on the shores of Lake Constance, lectures, panel discussions and so-called Nobel Hours (an exclusive discussion format bringing Nobel laureates and students together) gave her an opportunity to gain insight into cutting-edge research in physiology and medicine, physics, chemistry and even economics.
She also took part as a panelist in a discussion entitled From Scientific Discoveries to Practically Applicable Knowledge: How Can We Accelerate Bridging the Gap Between What We Measure and What We Know? Alongside English biochemist Tim Hunt, who received the 2001 Nobel Prize for his discovery of protein molecules that control cell division, she highlighted issues that she has also been trying to bring into the public debate in the Czech Republic. These included public trust in science, as well as scientists’ own trust in science, and the disadvantaged position of caregivers and women in science. According to her, however, the latter issue was “surprisingly quickly brushed aside with the argument that women have always had it more difficult in science.”
When asked about the most inspiring encounters of the week with the Nobel laureates, she does not hesitate for long. “Biochemist Katalin Karikó, chemist Omar Yaghi, and biochemist James Rothman, with whom we had the opportunity to have an informal lunch in a small group,” she says, naming the people who impressed her most, particularly because their fields are close to her own research. “I was fascinated by his deep understanding of the mechanistic functions of molecules and cellular structures. I believe this way of thinking inevitably leads to fundamental discoveries – you develop a very detailed understanding of how the world should work, make observations, discover something unexpected, rule out measurement errors, then propose a new theory and put it to the test. It reminded me of a number of lecturers at Masaryk University who think in a similar way and teach in this manner.”
Alongside her respect and admiration, however, the young scientist, who was included in Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list in 2025, is not afraid to offer a critical perspective on meeting some of the world’s leading scientists. “I also realized that many of the Nobel laureates come from highly privileged environments and did not experience the same difficulties in obtaining positions or funding as many of us young scientists do,” says the researcher, who is still at the beginning of her career. “It was also interesting to see some participants accepting everything Nobel laureates said without criticism, even when some of their statements were quite controversial. Perhaps it is worth reminding ourselves that although Nobel laureates are world-leading authorities in their fields, their answers to questions about systemic change and how to make the world and society better can also simply be opinions without expertise in the particular subject – just like anyone else’s.”
Alongside inspiring encounters, Dr Ráčková therefore took away from Lindau a renewed impulse to think critically about science. She also brought home a book – Breaking Through: My Life in Science, the memoirs of Katalin Karikó, who received the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. “Her life and scientific story are remarkable. From humble beginnings in communist Hungary, through her studies at the University of Szeged and her work at the University of Pennsylvania, to the groundbreaking discoveries that changed medicine,” Ráčková says of the scientist whose work laid the foundations for the development of mRNA vaccines in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
There was reportedly exceptional interest in meeting Karikó at the event. One reason was that her journey was far from straightforward, and her perseverance can serve as an inspiration to many young scientists. “She spoke openly about repeated difficulties in securing funding, losing her job and being moved to a lower academic position. None of these obstacles, however, discouraged her from continuing her scientific work or pursuing the research she believed in. She received the Nobel Prize despite the fact that her fundamental scientific contribution went unrecognized for a long time,” the young Czech scientist concludes.
Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings, or the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting, is a globally recognized forum for exchanging experience between Nobel laureates and young scientists. It inspires new generations of researchers and builds sustainable networks of young scientists around the world. Every year, in addition to the Nobel laureates themselves, the meeting brings together 600 students from bachelor’s and master’s programs, PhD students and postdoctoral researchers. Before arriving at Lake Constance, they must go through a demanding, multi-stage application and nomination process. They are most often nominated by partner institutions of the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings where they work or study, but they can also apply themselves if they are based in a country without a partner institution. This year’s meeting was attended, alongside Lucie Ráčková, by physicist/chemist Jan Hrabovský from the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics at Charles University, bioinformatician Anna Petráčková from Palacký University Olomouc, and Veronika Šritterová, who works at the Department of Physical Chemistry at the University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague.
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