Science Ministry pursues Nobel-winning dreams

“We will organise many activities in the pursuit of this goal,” Science and Technology Minister Pichet Durongkaveroj said this week. “For instance, we are already providing scholarships and opportunities for Thai students to learn from world-class scientists.”

He added that his ministry had sent some top-graders to the Asian Science Camp and also sent some whiz kids to witness the Nobel Prize presentation ceremony in Sweden. 

“We hope to produce world-class Thai scientists one day,” he said. 

He was speaking at an event held to promote the Nobel Prize and inspire Thai youth. Held at Impact Arena, Muang Thong Thani, the event included several well-known Thai scientists as speakers. 

Dr Thaweesak Ko-anantakool, president of the National Science and Technology Development Agency, said young people should be encouraged to develop skills in science, become more curious and begin implementing projects that are useful for other people. 

“Efforts such as this would be hugely beneficial, not just for the country, but also for the rest of the world,” he said. “One day in the future, a Thai will win a Nobel.”

Takaaki Kajita and Arthur B McDonald both won a Nobel in Physics for solving a long-standing puzzle about neutrinos by creating a detector that shows these tiny, tiny particles shift shape and hence have mass. 

Dr Saran Poshyachinda, deputy director of the National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand (NARIT), explained that Kajita’s and McDonald’s findings rescinded the original theory about neutrinos, which claimed that the particle had no mass and was able to go through all substances without any reaction. 

Dr Chairat Uthaipibull, principal researcher at the Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology National Centre, spoke about William C Campbell and Satoshi Omura, who shared the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Tu Youyou. Campbell and Omura won for coming up with a novel therapy against roundworm, while Tu won for her discoveries in the fight against malaria. The three scientists shared the Nobel grant worth more than Bt30 million. 

Dr Danaya Pakotiprapha, a lecturer in Mahidol University’s biochemistry department, spoke about Tomas Lindahl, Paul Modrich and Aziz Sancar, who shared the Nobel Prize for Chemistry for their studies on DNA repair. Their work could provide fundamental information on how living cells work and could be used to develop cancer treatment further.