A Reflection on the Guest Lecture of A Noble Prize Winner

Richard J. Roberts, a Nobel Prize winner in Physiology or Medicine, graced our university with a guest lecture. Fortunately, my close friend Elena reminded me to attend what turned out to be the most incredible lecture I’ve ever experienced. Even in his 80s, he was impressively vibrant. I had initially expected his talk to be filled with jargon and difficult concepts, assuming it might be too advanced for a layman like me. To my surprise, he presented complex scientific ideas in a concise and comprehensible manner. The hour-long lecture felt like a journey through his life and career: from his childhood to winning the Nobel Prize, to establishing startups, and other astonishing experiences. The audience was entirely engrossed in his narrative, and distraction seemed non-existent. His work, as encapsulated in the word ‘amazing’ that he used in his Nobel paper, genuinely reflects its title—breathtakingly outstanding. From his story, a few observations about what contributed to his monumental success as a scientist stood out:

Curiosity: Listening to his story, I made several observations about what has made him one of the most successful scientists. His most striking personal characteristic is his curiosity. From a very young age, under his mother’s supervision, he began to read extensively. He developed an obsession for a wide range of things, including puzzles, snooker, violin, and chemistry. His father, recognizing his interest in chemistry, bought him a lot of equipment. Soon after, he discovered fireworks and other chemical compounds. While he’s undoubtedly intelligent, he wasn’t always the ‘perfect’ student. He failed his first A-level attempt in physics and had to repeat the school year. He secured a 2:1 degree in his second year of undergraduate studies, and even with his advisor’s recommendation, he tried even harder in the third year to achieve a distinction but didn’t succeed. He came to realize that it wasn’t worth the time merely to attain that distinction. Perhaps due to his innate desire to explore, he consistently pursued his interests and passions. He transitioned in his career from chemistry to biochemistry and then to molecular biology, a niche field at that time. Reflecting on my own life, I feel that I’ve somehow lost my curiosity due to the utilitarian education I experienced for nearly the first 24 years of my life. I’ve primarily focused on learning what is ‘useful’—be it for making money or what I believed would benefit society—rather than following my true passion and innate curiosity about the world around me.

Fortune: The second characteristic that caught my attention was his luck. There exists a “lucky theory” with scientific evidence suggesting that the most successful people achieve success largely due to good luck. While I don’t believe that “good luck” alone can lead to success, it undoubtedly plays a crucial role. At the end of Richard’s talk, he highlighted a list of fortunate events in his life. An early stroke of luck was meeting an incredible postdoctoral research fellow during his PhD studies. This postdoc guided him meticulously through experiments and possessed a keen scientific intuition. Another fortunate turn of events was initially securing a postdoctoral position in Wisconsin Madison. However, due to his supervisor’s promotion to a professorship at Harvard, he ended up as a postdoc there. During his time at Harvard, luck played a part in the research topic he chose. While other scientists selected the same area but arrived at different results, and even when some achieved similar findings, they struggled to interpret them correctly. Later on, a twist of fate saved his life. He had originally booked a flight for a conference, but the conference committee decided to move the event up a day, prompting him to change his flights. As it turned out, the original flight he had booked was one of the planes that crashed into the Twin Towers. A series of fortunate events greatly contributed to his success and prolonged his career well into his 80s. Although one cannot deny the importance of “good luck”, Richard was often well-prepared to seize these fortunate moments, thanks to his innate curiosity, explorative nature, and preference for collaboration over competition.

Humanity: The third characteristic is his profound humanity. Beyond academia, his own startup company was also extremely successful. He used his industry earnings to support much of his research. Even during the pandemic, major pharmaceutical companies such as Moderna and Pfizer purchased technologies from his firm. Nearly everyone in his company received substantial bonuses, and even the cleaning staff saw their salaries doubled. All these successes made him immensely influential worldwide. Recognizing his potential to effect change, he began organizing Nobel Prize winners to deliver lectures and spread knowledge in developing countries. He traveled to Libya and spoke with the son of President Muammar Gaddafi, successfully persuading the government to release five nurses who had been sentenced to death because of the accidental release of the HIV virus. I doubt I could be as brave as he was in that situation. Even if I were to have such influential power one day, I might be afraid to wield it for various reasons.

In conclusion, while it’s challenging to implement profound change, having a role model like Richard J. Roberts offers a beacon of inspiration. He provides a mirror for introspection, guiding me towards a more refined version of myself.

You can find his bio via here: https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/1993/roberts/biographical/