For release: June 28, 2006

Contacts: 
Saren Johnston, Public Affairs,
(515) 294-3474

AMES LAB GRADUATE STUDENT MEETS NOBEL LAUREATES

Iowa State Student Selected by NSF to Attend Lindau Gathering of Nobel Laureates

AMES, IA – Jonathan Mullin, an Iowa State University graduate student doing research in computational chemistry at the U. S. Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory, has been selected by the National Science Foundation to attend the 56th Lindau Meeting of Nobel Laureates in Lindau, Germany, June 25-30.

Mullin, the son of Mark and Alice Mullin of Atlantic, Iowa, is one of 22 outstanding young researchers from across the United States who will receive support from the NSF for the Lindau meeting. While at the meeting, he will have the unique opportunity to participate in discussions with Nobel Laureates and network with student participants from around the world, including others from the United States who will be sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the U.S. Army, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU).
Since 1951, Nobel Laureates in chemistry, physics and physiology/medicine have annually convened in Lindau to have open and informal meetings with students and young researchers from around the world. This year's event, which traditionally rotates by discipline each year, will focus on chemistry.

"The Lindau Meeting of Nobel Laureates and students is a truly unique setting where professional contact with other motivated scientists is encouraged," said Mullin. "Lindau could be my window to the world, allowing me to challenge the outlook of other students about their research and have my research focus broadened and changed by the perspectives of other students."

Mullin's major professor, Mark Gordon, director of Ames Laboratory's Applied Mathematics and Computational Sciences Program and a Distinguished Professor of chemistry, in ISU's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, said, "Jonathan has proven to be an outstanding student. His breadth of interests is truly impressive, ranging from biology and biochemistry to chemistry to theoretical chemistry and physics to computer science. At the core of his interests is an abiding desire to develop a deep fundamental understanding of biological processes and the chemistry that drives them. He is an ideal candidate to attend the Lindau conference due to the combination of his excellent science and the ease with which he interacts with others."

Mullin understands that being able to interact and collaborate with researchers in both his and other disciplines is essential to building a productive and successful science career. "I will need the ability to work and communicate at the interface of many disciplines and understand the societal impacts of my work," he said. "All of this is something the Lindau meeting offers to its participants."

The Basic Energy Sciences Office of the DOE’s Office of Science funds Ames Laboratory’s research on metamaterials. Ames Laboratory is operated for the Department of Energy by Iowa State University. The Lab conducts research into various areas of national concern, including energy resources, high-speed computer design, environmental cleanup and restoration, and the synthesis and study of new materials.

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