It is no exaggeration to say that the annual Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings can be a life-changing experience for many of the 600 or so young scientists who attend. Researchers, all aged under 35, are selected from thousands of applicants from more than 80 countries and, this year, some were lost for words when asked to sum up the experience of what it meant to spend a week mingling with their scientific heroes on the German island of Lindau.

Credit: Nils-Petter Ekwall

After all, where else can you rub shoulders with the discoverer of HIV, the person who uncovered the genetic foundations of cancer, or the scientist who risked his life to prove that stomach ulcers are caused by a bacterium?

This year's Lindau meeting, the 64th held since 1951, was themed physiology or medicine and took place between 29 June and 4 July, with 37 laureates in attendance. For the first time, there were more female young researchers than male.

Some laureates were familiar faces, such as Werner Arber, for whom it was his 26th visit. Others, including Michael Bishop, Jules Hoffmann and Barry Marshall, were new to the experience. Despite a busy schedule, the laureates clearly enjoyed exchanging ideas with the next generation.

Taking inspiration from the opening lecture by Randy Schekman, who shared the 2013 Nobel prize for work on the cell's internal transport systems, we report on the part played by autophagy in conditions such as cancer and Alzheimer's disease (page S2). There are discussions — initiated by Nature Video and available at www.nature.com/lindau/2014 — between young researchers and laureates on the science and ethics of ageing (S14) as well as Q&As with six laureates, conducted and written by young scientists (S5).

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