Eric Wisniewski, a graduate student in chemistry, is getting a "once in a lifetime opportunity" to meet with Nobel prize winners as one of 36 graduate students from across the United States who have been selected to attend the 50th anniversary meeting of Nobel laureates, June 26-30 in Lindau, Germany.
Each year since 1951, Nobel laureates have met to discuss major issues of importance in their scientific fields with students from around the world. This year, through a program sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science, 36 student participants were selected from the U.S.
"It's a great honor to be selected," Wisniewski said. "I'm very excited about the prospect of meeting the brightest minds in the field of science."
A total of about 600 graduate students from Africa, Asia, Europe and North America will attend the weeklong session, hear lectures and participate in daily small-group sessions with the Nobel prize winners.
Wisniewski, from Hagerstown, Md., earned his bachelor's degree from Shepherd College with a major in chemistry and a minor in engineering. At Penn State, he is working with A. Welford Castleman Jr., holder of the Eberly Family Distinguished Chair in Science and Evan Pugh professor of chemistry and physics.