A chemistry conference which ended at the University of Otago yesterday had showed young researchers that top scientists were also human beings like themselves, Prof Keith Hunter said.
Many leading scientists, including several international keynote speakers, were among the more than 300 participants at the five-day conference, which ended yesterday.
And 12 holders of the Rutherford Medal, the Royal Society of New Zealand's premier science award, also attended a day-long Rutherford Symposium on Wednesday. That event celebrated the centennial of Rutherford's Nobel Prize for chemistry in 1908.
Prof Hunter, head of the university chemistry department and conference convener, said many young researchers tended to believe that the greatest scientists were like "rock stars" who were operating "on a different plane", where others could not hope to follow.
However, through discussions with senior scientists during the conference, some younger researchers had realised top scientists were also human, he said.
One medallist had also given younger colleagues some valuable advice - to tackle an interesting new area of study, even if they initially knew little about it.
