Science communication networks can lead to the most amazing collaborations. This week, the presentation of the Asimov Prize in Trieste included Nobel laureate Katalin Karikó, an amazing opportunity for our ICGEB alumna, Giulia Felician.
For 10 years, the Italian National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN) has run the Asimov Prize (“Premio Asimov”) for high school students. They read and review one or more books on science dissemination from a shortlist of five, selected each year by a scientific committee. The book that receives the best reviews from the students and the students who wrote those reviews receive the award. This year, 13,000 high school students participated in the initiative across Italy.
“What a great opportunity to read some good science outreach literature!” Exclaims Dr. Giulia Felician, researcher in the Molecular Hematology lab at ICGEB Trieste and a firm exponent of science communication. “This year, ICGEB was invited to take part in the committee to judge the reviews written by the students from our Region,” she explains. “I agreed to take part immediately, seeing this as an interesting activity and a good opportunity to read scientific outreach books. The best,” she adds, “was yet to come!”
The author of one of the books selected for this year’s prize was Nobel laureate Katilin Karikó, for her autobiography: “Breaking Through: My Life in Science”.
Karikó was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 2023, and her contributions to science were the basis of the development of mRNA vaccines, which ultimately pulled the world out of the COVID-19 pandemic. “I was approached to help with the live translation during a meeting with Prof. Karikó and 200 high school students from the Friuli Venezia-Giulia Region. I was thrilled to participate, and surprised that a Nobel prizewinner would take time to talk to a group of students! The conversation was immensely inspiring”, Giulia recounts. “She told us of her childhood in an underprivileged family in Hungary in the 1950s, and explained how her own high school teachers contributed to her becoming a scientist.”
“Her resilience, love of science, and deep faith to contribute to science in a meaningful way remained strong, even when her projects were not funded and she was fired (can you believe she lost her job five times?!). She never gave up and followed her dreams despite every hardship”.
“Her story”, Giulia adds, “is incredible and inspirational for young scientists to be, and her passion for science is palpable.”
“It was amusing to hear a Nobel Prizewinner suggesting that students follow their talents and dreams; that they should do science if they like solving puzzles because ‘doing science is fun!’
“While this is surely so”, concludes our alumna, “I thought that as your career progresses, you might forget how much fun it is to run experiments!”
Thanks to Giulia Felician for sharing this account.
