Quotes by Venkatraman Ramakrishnan

“People go into science out of curiosity, not to win awards. But scientists are human and have ambitions.”

“Governments and scientists in India need to ensure that politics and religious ideology do not intrude into science. They belong to separate spheres, and if they are not kept separate, it is scienc...”

“I am still the same person doing the same science. Why are people so impressed when some academy in Sweden gives an award?”

“I had an excellent math and physics teacher in high school named T.C. Patel, and in the university, I had truly dedicated professors in both physics and mathematics who gave me a sound foundation w...”

“It takes a certain amount of courage to tackle very hard problems in science, I now realise. You don't know what the timescale of your work will be: decades or only a few years.”

“This is an honour that reflects the quality of science supported by the Medical Research Council, in particular at the Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge. In my case, credit should go to ...”

“In the current debate about immigration, it is worth noting that this award is yet another example of the numerous contributions that immigrants make to British society.”

“Indeed, many of the founding members of the Laboratory of Molecular Biology were immigrants themselves, and they helped to revolutionise modern biology.”

“I think it is the ability to tackle difficult problems in a sort of stable and supportive environment. I think that is the real key to it.”

“I was quite insistent. We have quite a few pranksters in the lab and I thought this was one of them. I even congratulated the man, ironically, on his Swedish accent.”

“I knew the ribosome was going to be the focus of Nobel prizes. It stands at the crossroads of biology, between the gene and what comes out of the gene. But I had convinced myself I was not going to...”

“I then got a PhD in physics [from Ohio University] though it was hatt hatt and hatt not a very good one.”

“I remember reading a Scientific American article about the use of new physical techniques – including neutron scattering – as a method for unravelling the structure of the ribosome. I was fascinate...”

“If I had complained about the prize before I got mine, they may have thought I was anticipating sour grapes. But I complained on the grounds that too many important scientists get missed out for No...”

“You would have to ask a physicist really but I think understanding fundamental problems in physics is very important because they are part of our culture. You just never know what is going to come ...”

“Find out what really fascinates you and follow that. Almost anything in nature, if you follow it, you will find a scientific problem. That is a better way to do it than following fads, because what...”

“Scientists are trained to be rational and we are not trained to interact with people and develop social skills. Politics is about being able to convince people. Scientists could do with learning ho...”

“Scientists work by a combination of intuition and insight in trying to understand a question.”

“No. Geeks make huge advances in society. Newton was the ultimate geek. It should be a compliment.”

“A life of science struck me as being both interesting and international in character.”