Usually, young researchers can attend the Heidelberg Laureate Forum only once, but for HLF’s 10th anniversary, 20 alumni got the exclusive opportunity to revisit Heidelberg in September. When the HLF Foundation announced that previously selected researchers could apply for a second visit, Tim Baarslag did not hesitate and wrote a motivation letter. After a highly competitive process he was selected from 1800 participants. "My first visit to the Heidelberg Laureate Forum has been one of the most enjoyable activities I have ever done, and one that I encourage our group members to participate in as well", says Baarslag, a researcher at the Intelligent and Autonomous Systems group. "The laureates you get to meet are celebrities in their field."
"Last time, I was eager to meet Andrew Wiles because his proof of Fermat's Last Theorem is so fascinating and was discussed in my algebra class. You could simply walk up to him on a boat tour through Heidelberg! I also got to ask him a question during his lecture, which was really cool. Besides that, I got to write a paper with Michael Atiyah, winner of both the Fields Medal and the Abel Prize.
