Message : Dr. Leo Esaki （Chairperson of HOPE Meeting 2008）

”This is what distinguishes leaders from followers.”　

I had the great privilege of chairing last year’s first HOPE Meeting and of spending three stimulating days with the many talented young researchers who had gather to participate in it from around the Asia-Pacific region.

Science is an evolving culture. HOPE Meetings are carried out with the cooperation of my close friends and colleagues?Nobel laureates and frontline Japanese researchers. All of them have something in common: they don’t fear failure. Rather, they push forward against obstacles and setbacks with a relentless enthusiasm to discover and create. This is what distinguishes leaders from followers. It’s the gene passed from generation to generation of researchers that makes science evolve. I was pleased to see that gene implanted in the hearts of the young researchers as they interacted closely with the leading scientists over the course of the HOPE Meeting. I could see it manifest in their glowing countenance when I gave each of them a commemorative medal and shook their hand at the closing ceremony?they exuded aspiration and confidence.

Hope Meetings are a new initiative. As they are repeated each year, I look forward to them taking deep root within the Asia-Pacific region. I can say with certainty that they will inspire and impel the young participants to go on to become genuine leaders within the region and beyond.