The 2008 Gairdner lectures are coming up. Winners of Gairdner Awards quite often go on to win Nobel Prizes, and the yearly lectures and symposia are a great chance to see the best of the best in the life sciences.

The Gairdner website calendar lists the events in all cities.

Here are some Gairdner events coming up in Southern Ontario. I think they’re all free. And even though only one event is explicitly listed as “public lecture”, all lectures listed here are accessible to anyone, and the level is comparable to that of talks on the Nobel website (understandable with high school or undergraduate science, and not that specialized).

Minds that Matter Symposium
October 23 and 24 in Toronto (MacLeod auditorium at UofT) (two full days)
If you can only attend one event in October, you must go here – it’s great! (Sydney Brenner and Craig Mello are speaking back to back on the 24th!!!)

Special Symposium on Vaccines for Cancer and Infectious Disease
October 22 in Toronto (Hart House Theatre)

Public Lecture
October 21 in Toronto (MaRS)

Gairdner Lecture at York University
October 22
Speaker: Nahum Sonenberg

Gairdner Lecture at McMaster
October 21
Speaker: Harald zur Hausen

Gairdner Lecture at UWO
October 20
Speaker: Harald zur Hausen
Location: London Health Sciences Centre

Gairdner Lecture in Waterloo
October 22
Speaker: Sydney Brenner
Location: ?

Gairdner Lecture in Guelph
October 23
Speaker: Ian Frazer,
Location: Ontario Veterinary College