In the small town of Lindau, overlooking Lake Constance, over 600 young researchers from around the world gathered with 33 Nobel Prize winners to envision the future of science. Many of these young women are already transforming research and society, working everywhere from Zambian mines to nanotechnology laboratories and from Portuguese olive groves to African hydrogen production facilities. Their stories signal a change that begins with knowledge but does not stop there.

Over 600 researchers aged 19 to 40 from 84 different countries around the world meet 33 Nobel Prize winners from the last 3 decades in a small town of just over 25,000 inhabitants nestled on Lake Constance, on the German side. The event hashtag is #LINO25, the full name is “Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting” and the edition dedicated to chemistry was explosive. Participating as a journalist and environmental physicist was a gamble: I risked being seen as a “spy” or “intruder.” Instead, by immediately declaring myself as such, I was also able to research, me among the researchers, and find stories of women ready to change the future and who have already started doing so.

From analyses in the darkness of mines to nanotechnology laboratories, from scientific associations to European research centers, each in their own way but all the female researchers I met are building bridges between continents and disciplines, bringing innovation where it’s needed and hope where it’s lacking. They represented 49% of the 620 researchers selected in total. I couldn’t speak with all of them, but here are some stories I collected and hold dear.

More Usable Hydrogen

In a laboratory in Johannesburg, Juliana Edor is working on the future of sustainable energy. Originally from Ghana, this researcher found an opportunity in South Africa to devote herself to her favorite field of research and chose to pursue her passion wherever it took her.

Her research focuses on catalysts for handling hydrogen, one of the energy sources that could revolutionize our relationship with the environment if it were not so light and difficult to handle and potentially explosive.

The solution according to Edor could be the development of homogeneous bifunctional catalysts that allow hydrogen to be stored in liquid form through organic compounds and then released when needed.

“By studying the transformation mechanism,” she explains, “I can understand how to improve selectivity by changing the structure of the ligands.”

It is this desire for deep understanding that distinguishes her approach: not only energy efficiency, but also sustainability.

Edor left Ghana seven years ago, driven by the need to find adequate funding and research infrastructure for the path she was on. She did master’s, doctoral, and post-doctoral work always at the University of Johannesburg, also supported by the Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World (OWSD), and now looks to the future with ambitions to contribute to both green chemistry and the development of sustainable materials such as biodegradable polymers.

A return to Ghana? “Why not? It depends on the conditions I find. I want to be where I can grow and innovate, bringing benefits to the entire continent.”

More sensorized sea

In one of California’s many universities, Kishwar-E Hasin has just completed a doctorate that could revolutionize underwater technology. Her research on perovskite materials is not just an academic exercise, but a concrete response to the challenges of marine exploration. The materials she works on are different from classical perovskites: when subjected to mechanical pressure, instead of losing electrical polarization in two directions like traditional materials, they increase polarization in all directions. This characteristic makes them ideal for underwater sensors, where hydrostatic pressure comes from all sides.

“I use computer simulations to predict material properties,” Hasin explains. “I can understand how structure affects piezoelectric properties and optimize performance for future electronic devices.”

His results are ready for publication after five years of focused research but many more years of quiet dedication.

In fact, her path began with her early studies in Bangladesh, the country where she was born and completed bachelor’s and master’s degrees and then moved to the United States for her doctorate. Her assessment of the research system in her native country is blunt:

“It is not comparable with the rest of the world. The opportunities are limited, and the political situation is completely out of the control of scientists.” The dilemma of returning haunts her: “Maybe not now, but hopefully in the future. If I returned now, I would not have the opportunity to contribute effectively.”

Hasin recounts how women, while numerous in the early stages of research, struggle in career advancement. “I know it is a global problem,” she comments, “but it is particularly serious in Bangladesh: opportunities for women are still limited despite the government’s efforts.”

Less dust that kills

In Zambia, Mwaba Sifanu is fighting a silent battle against an invisible enemy: crystalline silica from copper mines. As a researcher at Copperbelt University, she is dedicating herself to protecting mine workers from dust that enters their lungs and never leaves.

“Growing up in the copper region, I saw many people die from mining exposure,” she says, ” There are not many miners over 60 years old because they die after exposure.

This personal experience has become the mission of her scientific research, which is unique because it combines traditional methods and technological innovation. While filters and pumps to measure silica exposure are well-established tools, Sifanu is implementing new ones to monitor in real time, with nanosensors providing immediate information on particle size. “The smaller the size, the deeper it penetrates into the lungs, ” she explains.

But the biggest challenge is logistical: there is no functional XRD in Zambia to analyze the samples, which have to be sent to South Africa. “The results arrive late, but in the meantime the exposure continues and changes.” It is a race against time to protect lives, and Sifanu wants to win it as her country is winning gender discrimination in access to scientific studies.

“Now I have female students who want to enter the field because they see that there is a female doctor. They are an inspiration: if she can do it,” they tell themselves, “I can do it too“.

Olive oil better in every way

From Brazil to Portugal, Ìtala Marx turned an accidental discovery into a sustainability mission. Her first encounter with olives and olive oil came during her master’s degree in Portugal in 2015, sparking a passion that redefined her career. During her four-year doctoral program, she revolutionized the industrial extraction of olive oil.

“My approach was the first industrially scalable,” she explains. “I developed an electrochemical device that eliminates solvents and reagents, allowing reuse of the analyzed oil.”

The results have been significant: increased phenolic compounds, innovative use of olive leaves, improved flavor and intensity. But the real innovation, according to Marx herself, is in the enhancement of by-products. “The ratio is 5:1 between by-products and oil produced,” she notes. “They are currently used at low value or discarded, with significant environmental impact.”

Her solution is a completely green, solvent-free biotechnological fractionation process that turns waste into ingredients for food, cosmetics, nutraceuticals and industry. Now she is making the leap from academia to entrepreneurship. At EIT Food in Rimini, she is developing the business plan to commercialize his technology. “B2B model for industrial ingredients,” she says, “targeting companies such as Nestlé, PepsiCo, Unilever, L’Oréal.”

Her value proposition and the values that make her believe in it are clear: sustainable process, natural ingredients, circular economy.

Capturing carbon, really

In Malaysia, at Petronas Technological University, Diyan Ridzuan has just completed a six-year PhD that could change the way we manage CO₂ emissions. Her research on catalytic conversion of carbon dioxide aims to be a revolutionary alternative to simply storing emissions.

“I convert CO₂ into useful products through catalytic hydrogenation,” Ridzuan explains. “CO₂ + H₂ becomes CH₄ + H₂O. I use carbon as a building block for complex molecules.”

Her innovation lies in the catalyst: nickel supported on graphene, which achieves 96 percent conversion with 99.9 percent selectivity toward methane, replacing expensive noble metals with a cheap and efficient solution.

According to Ridzuan, the applications are enormous. In the energy sector, this kind of technology integrates into Power-to-Gas systems, creating closed loops for energy management and in climate management, it offers an alternative to Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS): “CCUS – Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage. Conversion instead of just storage.”

Her path reflects the unique characteristics of the Malaysian research system, and one only has to pay attention to the name of “Petronas” Technological University to understand the key role played by the national oil company.

“Research must be oriented toward industrial applications, there is pressure for rapid commercialization, 5-10 years.” But Ridzuan aspires to something different.

“I want to do fundamental research,” she says. “I want the pleasure of pure discovery, to explore the bridge between fundamental and applied.”

She is seeking opportunities in Europe, where she hopes to find the balance between scientific curiosity and practical impact.

Small brain without secrets

In the world of neuroscience, Coralie Herent is unraveling the mysteries of the cerebellum, that structure that contains one-third of all neurons in the brain but about which we still know too little. Her research aims to revolutionize the understanding of movement disorders and open new avenues for rehabilitation.

“The cerebellum receives information about movements, compares what happened with what should happen, and sends calibration signals to correct, ” Herent explains. “We know a lot about the inputs and how it processes the information, but we don’t know enough about the outputs: where they go and why.”

Her methodology is innovative: an asymmetric “treadmill” that allows the study of motor adaptation in mice. “This system is divided into two parts and allows independent control of each side of the body, ” she relates. “I study how the brain adapts to motor perturbations.” Results have immediate clinical applications: treatment of post-stroke gait asymmetries, rehabilitation of cerebellar disorders.

The technologies she uses are cutting-edge: genetic manipulation with CRE-LOX system, transgenic mouse lines, stereotactic injections with inactivated viruses as vectors.

Her passion for neuroscience started early, at age 6-7 when she saw dead animals she was curious to understand their “functionalism.” She was born with a strong curiosity to learn more about the body that also became the impetus for her career in which she tries to balance fundamental research and clinical applications. And meanwhile, she also struggles to balance the presence of women in science, including at the top.

Dreams of nanomedicine

The youngest participant in the Lindau conference comes from Dhaka University, her name is Ashima Monjur does research inelectrochemistry applied to targeted drug delivery. She “calls herself” still in her early days, but her ambitions are huge.

“I work on targeted drug distribution using stimuli such as temperature and electrical potential, ” she explains. “I can manipulate distribution by changing the state of drugs in physiological fluids such as blood and serum.”

Her innovative materials – hydrogels and polymers – aim to revolutionize nanomedicine, and that is what she wants to devote herself to in the future.

“I couldn’t get admitted to medical school, so I chose chemistry with a focus on biochemistry,” she says. “The educational system in my country devotes a lot of time to theory, few practical opportunities.” Limited resources are a constant: “lack of funds, time for theses and projects is tight, but if I went to do a PhD in other countries, I would have to leave my lab and the team I started with.”

Who knows what she will decide to do after his experience in Lindau.

“It will be transformative: it’s my first time in Europe, first trip alone. I am the only participant from Bangladesh-this creates anxiety for me but most of all it motivates me. During this experience I got confirmation of the need for science to grow more independently and freely. More investment is needed for us young scientists, because with our knowledge it represents an asset of all.”