2018 NSC Study Visit: Stockholm

Day 1 (5/12/2018)
The delegation gathered in KLIA at around 9:00pm. After several group photos and checking their travel documents, they departed at 11:50 pm.

Day 2 (6/12/2018)
The delegation arrived in Schiphol, Amsterdam at around 6:00 am. Then they boarded their next flight to Stockholm two hours later, arriving at the destination at 10:30 am.

Using the public transport pass provided, they were able to travel anywhere within city limits in the week. They headed to their accommodation, Scandic Continental which was only a short walk from the Stockholm Central Station. The delegation’s first destination was Tekniska Museet, Stockholm’s best science museum. They learnt a lot through the hands-on exhibits and was very inspired by the Swedish culture of innovation and development.

After that, the delegation went to the national museum, locally known as Nationalmuseet. The museum’s collection consists of about half a million drawings from the Middle Ages to the 1900s, a prominent 17th-century collection by Rembrandt and other Dutch painters, and a collection of porcelain items, paintings, sculptures, and modern art. The museum also has an art library, open to the public and academics. They finished their trip and headed back to the hotel at 9:00 pm.

Day 3 (7/12/2018)
The delegation paid a courtesy visit to the Malaysian Embassy in Sweden. At 11:00 am, they headed to Karolinska Institutet for the Nobel Lectures in Physiology and Medicine. The delegation stood in line for two hours, but it was worth it. The Nobel Laureates presented on how they discovered that immunology can be utilized to combat cancer, which was previously thought of as impossible.

Day 4 (8/12/2018)
The delegation’s day started super early to catch the Nobel Lecture in Physics and Chemistry at 8:00 am. The lecture on Physics was about lasers (optical tweezers & chirped pulse amplification), presented by Donna Strickland; she is also the first woman to win a Nobel Prize in physics since 1983. Her passion of the subject was also very influential and inspiring to the delegation.

The following Chemistry lecture talked about harnessing the power of evolution to create any enzyme to suit our needs. As a whole, the delegation learnt that the process of discovery was not easy; it requires years of hard work, dedication and critical thinking.

After the Lectures, the delegation headed to Nordiskamuseet where they learnt about Swedish culture during the 1700s until today.

Day 5 (9/12/2018)
The delegation visited Vasamuseet, which was about a large wooden warship that sank on its maiden voyage, 25 minutes after it first left the harbour. They learnt that thanks to the freshwater, the ship itself was well-preserved; even after 333 years on the sea bed, the mighty warship was salvaged with minor damage. They learnt about the conservation efforts made by the Swedish maritime experts to help preserve their national treasure.

Next, they visited the Skansen Open Air Museum, which was a short tram ride from Vasamuseet. There, they learnt about life in the Swedish countryside; they also saw a collection of local fauna at the mini zoo.

Day 6 (10/12/2018)
The delegation visited Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan (KTH), also known as Royal Institute of Technology. They had an interactive session with representatives from IBM and KTH, who showed them an image of the universe with 3D glasses on a 4K resolution screen.

Next, the delegation visited the Royal Palaces to get a glimpse of the royal lifestyle. Afterwards, they visited the Nobel Museum where they witnessed the various instruments used by the Nobel Laureates in their ground-breaking discoveries. Although they weren’t able to witness the Nobel Prize Giving Ceremony in person, they watched it live from the Nobel Museum.

Day 7 (11/12/2018)
The delegation woke up, had breakfast, packed up their things and checked out. Then, they took the express train to Arlanda airport. Their flight was at 1:30 pm, arriving in Amsterdam at 3:30 pm. After a five-hour transit, they took their flight back to KL at 8:50 pm.

Day 8 (12/12/2018)
The delegation arrived in KLIA at 3:30 pm local time. They felt that the experience they gained was invaluable and shall be cherished for a very long time. They would encourage their juniors to participate in the coming National Science Challenge as a way to awaken their inner scientists as well as deepen their passion for science.

Appreciation
The delegation would like to express their gratitude towards Akademi Sains Malaysia, Young Scientists Network, and ExxonMobil for giving them this golden opportunity of a study visit to Stockholm. They have been deeply inspired and humbled by the Nobel Laureates’ will to innovate, their desire to explore, and their contributions to humanity. They look forward to work hard and strive, to make Malaysia proud.