Portraits of Nobel Heroes

Peter W. Higgs

The British physicist Peter Higgs was awarded the 2013 Nobel Prize in Physics for theorizing the so-called ‘Higgs boson’ that led to a better understanding of the origin of particles mass. The existence of the Higgs boson was confirmed in 2012 at the CERN laboratory.

John F. Nash Jr.

American mathematician John F. Nash Jr. was awarded the 1994 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel for his landmark work on game theory. His studies explore the factors involved in change and decision-making processes.

George F. Smoot

George Smoot was awarded the 2006 Nobel Prize in Physics together with John C. Mather for measuring cosmic background radiation, which gives support for the Big Bang theory. Their research reveals clues about the infancy of the universe, including the formation of galaxies and stars.

Wole Soyinka

Wole Soyinka is a Nigerian born writer whose body of work includes multiple genres: playwright, poetry, novels, as well as cultural and political essays. Soyinka was awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize in Literature, being the first African receiving this honour.

Mikhail Gorbachev

Being the last leader of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev was awarded the 1990 Nobel Peace Prize for his leading role in terminating the Cold War, the fall of the Berlin Wall and promoting peaceful international relations.

Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard

German geneticist Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard received the 1995 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine together with Eric Wieschaus and Edward Lewis for their research on the genetic control of early embryonic development.

Steven Chu

US physicist Steven Chu was awarded the 1997 Nobel Prize in Physics together with Claude Cohen-Tannoudji and William D. Phillips for their discoveries on the technique of cooling atoms using lasers. Between 2009 and 2013, Chu held the position as Secretary of Energy in the first administration of former US President Barack Obama.

Françoise Barré-Sinoussi

French virologist Françoise Barré-Sinoussi was awarded the 2008 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for her groundbreaking discovery of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). Her research was fundamental to the development of effective treatment methods against AIDS.

Venkatraman Ramakrishnan

Ribosomes are the factories in our cells using the information contained in the DNA to produce complex proteins that are essential for life. Venkatraman Ramakrishnan described the detailed structure of ribosomes and was therefore awarded the 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

Stefan W. Hell

The Romanian-born German scientist Stefan Hell revolutionised optical microscopy by realising the principle of Stimulated Emission Depletion (STED) for which he was awarded the 2014 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. STED microscopy has proved particularly useful for observing processes inside living cells.

Doris Lessing

British novelist Doris Lessing was awarded the 2007 Nobel Prize in Literature. The Nobel Commitee acknowledged the literary “scepticism, fire and visionary power" of her work.

Angus Deaton

How can welfare and poverty be analysed and measured? British-American economist Angus Deaton received the 2015 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel for answering this question. He studied nations’ economic development and explained how people make decisions about their consumption.

Youyou Tu

Chinese phytochemist Youyou Tu isolated the antimalarial substance 'artemisinin' from the sweet wormwood plant that is known in traditional Chinese medicine as a cure against fever. Artemisinin became one of the world’s most-effective malaria-fighting drugs, saving millions of lives. For her research, Tu was awarded the 2015 Nobel Prize in Medicine.

Mario Vargas Llosa

The Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa is best known for some of the most significant writings that have been published in South America. He received the 2010 Nobel Prize in Literature "for his cartography of structures of power and his trenchant images of the individual's resistance, revolt, and defeat.”

Joseph Stiglitz

American economist Joseph E. Stiglitz received the 2001 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel for his pioneering work on asymmetric information. His research covers a wide range of topics such as distribution, risk, corporate governance, public policy, macroeconomics and globalisation.

Takaaki Kajita

Japanese physicist Takaaki Kajita was awarded the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physics for demonstrating experimentally that neutrinos have mass. This discovery proved that the recent Standard Model of particle physics is theoretical incomplete and needs to be revised.

Elizabeth H. Blackburn

Australian-American researcher Elizabeth H. Blackburn was awarded the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine together with Carol W. Greider and Jack W. Szostak for the discovery of telomerase – an enzyme that can rebuild the telomeres. Telomeres protect the end of each chromosome but they decrease over time. When they get too short, they lose their ability to divide – a key process in aging.

Yoshinori Ohsumi

Japanese cell biologist Yoshinori Ohsumi was awarded the 2016 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discoveries in an intracellular process called ‘autophagy’. Cells use this mechanism to destroy and recycle dysfunctional components inside the cell such as viruses, bacteria or damaged proteins.

William C. Campbell

Irish-born American parasitologist William C. Campbell was awarded the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine together with Satoshi Ōmura for the discovery of the drug ‘avermectin’. This substance proved vital to combat infection-causing roundworm parasites.

Mario J. Molina

Mexican-born chemist Mario Molina is best known for his role in discovering the Antarctic ozone hole. He shared the 1995 Chemistry Nobel Prize together with F. Sherwood Rowland and Paul J. Crutzen for the research on the man-made influences causing damages to the ozone layer.

Roger Y. Tsien

American chemist Roger Y. Tsien was awarded the 2008 Nobel Prize in Chemistry together with Martin Chalfie and Osamu Shimomura. The three laureates were mainly responsible for establishing the Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) as one of the most valuable methods for examining biological systems.

Robert J. Aumann

Israeli-American mathematician and economist Robert J. Aumann is one of the most influential modern game theorists. For his work on conflict and cooperation through game-theory analysis he received the 2005 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel.

Al Gore

45th Vice President of the United States Al Gore has become one of the leading voices for environmental activism. He was awarded the 2007 Nobel Prize for Peace for his efforts to raise awareness about the human impact on global warming.

Ada E. Yonath

Israeli biochemist Ada E. Yonath is best known for her pioneering work on ribosomes – a large complex molecule that synthesises proteins. Her research has earned her the 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry along with Venkatraman Ramakrishnan and Thomas A. Steitz.

Arthur McDonald

Canadian astrophysicist Arthur B. McDonald was awarded the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physics together with Takaaki Kajita for discovering the oscillations of neutrinos from one so-called 'flavour' to another. This discovery proved that these subatomic particles have mass.

Ben Feringa

Dutch chemist Ben Feringa was awarded the 2016 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the development of molecular machines. These are tiny macromolecules with controllable movements that can fulfill tasks after receiving energy.