Nobel Laureate Huber: Every Government Must Be Aware of How Important Science Is, Education Is the Basis of Everything

Teachers' protest, Belgrade, Jan. 20 2025 (BETAPHOTO/MILAN OBRADOVIC)

Nobel Prize Winner German biochemist Rober Huber, the winner of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1988, said on Nov. 6 that "for a country to leave its mark in some area of research, a lot depends on education," and that this was in fact a basis the beginnings of which started in elementary school, continued in high school and then college, etc.

"The problem is finding well trained teachers to educate children, even many European countries have this problem. But this must first be solved if a country has the intention of being recognized in a research field," Huber, who spoke at a recent international conference called, the Future of Biotechnology, in Belgrade, told NIN in an interview. 

Asked what Germany was doing to keep young experts in the country, he pointed to the financial support of the federal and provincial governments and their investment in education and research. "Even though things can always be better, these financial measures are relatively good and enable students to stay in the country and develop in their fields. They must be aware of how important science is, above all fundamental science. Because if we look at it, progress in medicine was most often the result of progress in fundamental science," he said.