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360º PERSPECTIVES | ISSUE 7 | 2020/2021
Young scientist has her eyes firmly fixed on the stars » Astrophysics student Nicole Thomas, who is completing her PhD at the University of the Western Cape’s Department of Physics and Astronomy, was selected to attend the 69th Nobel Laureate Meeting in Lindau, Germany, in 2019. ROFESSOR ROY MAARTENS, who worked closely with Thomas, said at the time that she “leaves no stone unturned in understanding the material. She doesn’t take shortcuts towards achieving her goals and she will no doubt leave this meeting [Lindau] even better prepared to make an impact in the field.”
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Thomas says the six-day Nobel Meeting was an uplifting experience. “Being surrounded by 40 Nobel laureates as well as hundreds of the brightest young minds in physics is incredibly intimidating. It was an honour to get to listen to the laureates talk about their journeys and research leading up to their awards,” she says. “The highlight for me was definitely getting to meet and know some of the other young scientists. This was particularly important because these young scientists will be leaders in their respective fields in 10 years’ time, and these are the people that one is more likely to collaborate with, now and in future.”
