TAU Represents at the 2024 Global Young Scientists Summit in Singapore

This January, Tel Aviv University (TAU) sent five dedicated graduate researchers to the Global Young Scientists Summit (GYSS) in Singapore, where they were able to share their research, forge invaluable connections and chat with Nobel Laureates.

One of these students was Uri Sprecher, a third-year PhD in biomedicine and cancer research who uses computational tools and artificial intelligence to advance the treatment of rare disorders and to find cures.

For Sprecher—who works under Prof. Miguel Weil in the School of Molecular Cell Biology & Biotechnology—this was the first time he applied for GYSS and he found the experience invaluable.

"All in all, being selected to represent our university and country alongside my fellow faculty colleagues at such a unique conference was an incredible opportunity that I will cherish throughout my career,"—Uri Sprecher, a third-year PhD student at TAU.

"As a student whose research spans multiple fields, I found this experience incredibly beneficial," says Sprecher.

Presenting Research to a Global Audience

During the summit, which took place from January 8 to 12, Sprecher was given the opportunity to present a poster on his research. Knowing that there would be a global audience from varying scientific fields at the summit, he used the opportunity to reframe his research in as accessible a manner as possible.

"I found a way to highlight things that I thought would be interesting for multidisciplinary people from different fields," says Sprecher. "I highlighted the methodology part for people who come from computer sciences and fields like that, and on the other end I highlighted clinical stuff for people who study medicine and biology."

Uri Sprecher and Prof Randy Schekman, Nobel Laureate 2013 (Photo courtesy of Uri Sprecher)

During his first day with the poster, Sprecher says he must have chatted with about 100 people from at least 20 different countries.

"Everybody who came by immediately started a conversation," recalls Sprecher. "There were several people there where we made some cool connections, which will perhaps lead to some kinds of collaborations in the future."

Chatting with Nobel Laureates

For Sprecher, one of the highlights of the summit was the ability to have conversations with Nobel laureates who work in areas connected to Sprecher’s field of research. In particular, he says he had great conversations with Israeli biologist Aaron Ciechanover, Indian-British chemist Sir Shankar Balasubramanian and American molecular and cell biologist Randy Schekman.

"I’m a history guy and I admire the people who paved the way."

"I had interesting discussions with them about science and research topics I’m interested in, and it was very insightful and sometimes even beneficial — there were a couple of leads that came out of these conversations that I’m trying to explore," says Sprecher.

Some Time to Enjoy Singapore

Sprecher says he was also able to do some exploring of Singapore. One of his closest friends from TAU was also on the trip, and the two of them were able to visit the botanical gardens, sample some of the local cuisine and walk around.

However, he also emphasizes that the summit was packed full of events, and that most of his time was spent taking advantage of all GYSS had to offer.

"GYSS 2024 was an amazing experience."

The Lowy International School wishes to thank the National Research Foundation Singapore, as well as TAU’s Presidential Fund for Cooperation with Singapore, for their financial help in sending Sprecher and his peers to GYSS.