Students should inculcate habit of asking to broaden their horizons, said Nobel laureate Yonath in Bengal

Calling upon young students to never cease in their quest to learn, Israeli Nobel laureate Prof (Dr) Ada E Yonath has urged them to inculcate the habit to ask in order to broaden their horizons.

Yonath is the first woman in 45 years to win the Nobel for Chemistry in 2009 for her pioneering work on the structure of ribosomes, which are found in all cells. The ribosome is a major bacterial target for antibiotics, and her work has led to new antibiotics and a better understanding of antibiotic resistance.

"Your curiosity will be your guiding force, to fire your passion for the quest of scientific knowledge," said Yonath, the 83-year-old director of the Helen and Milton A Kimmelman Center for Biomolecular Structure and Assembly of the Weizmann Institute of Science.

Addressing the convocation of Adamas University at Barasat in North 24 Parganas district on Saturday, she said knowledge cannot be acquired if there is no interaction among people.

Yonath, the chief guest at the Convocation, stated that interaction whets curiosity while curiosity enriches grey cells.

The Nobel laureate said all young scientists follow the broad rule of curiosity.

Yonath called upon the young scientists to share their knowledge by publishing what they learned as that will only broaden their horizons.

University Chancellor Prof Samit Roy said Adamas was collaborating with national and international educational institutions to facilitate global exposure and enrich the knowledge of the academic and corporate world.