Columbia University’s Professor Martin Chalfie, who shared the 2008 Nobel Prize in Chemistry along with Osamu Shimomura and Roger Y. Tsien for the discovery and development of the green fluorescent protein (GFP), met with young local scientists during a recent visit to Chile. The gathering was organized by the Santiago Center and hosted by Alex Godoy-Faúndez, Director of Sustainability Research Center at Universidad del Desarrollo (UDD) and Research Associate at Columbia’s Earth Engineering Center.
Dr. Chalfie, who teaches and conducts research at the Department of Biological Sciences, travelled to Chile to participate in Festival Puerto de Ideas, a major public event featuring scholars, scientists and researchers from all over the world that took place in mid-April in the Northern city of Antofagasta. Notwithstanding an extremely active agenda, he enthusiastically accepted the Center’s invitation to meet with a group of ten young scientists working as associates and/or assistants in the fields of Physics, Biology, Biochemistry and Biomedicine at Chilean universities. During the conversation, they asked Dr. Chalfie about his experience related to the discovery of the GFP, the personal and professional circumstances surrounding the award of the Nobel Prize, and his current work at Columbia University.
The young academics listened attentively to the key advice on how to develop a successful science career in the current global context. Chalfie mentioned the new trends in publishing issues such as the preprint journals, which can be useful when scientists need feedback on their theories and discoveries.
See more pictures of the gathering here
