The 2023 Nobel Prize in Chemistry went to research related to the discovery of quantum dots, which gave color to nanotechnology. The discovery can currently be found in televisions and LED lamps and is also used in medicine as a marker to guide the removal of tumor tissue.
The winners were Moungi Bawendi of MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), Louis Brus of Columbia University and Alexei Ekimov of Nanocrystals Technology Inc., all institutes in the United States. The announcement was made this Wednesday morning (4). at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm, Sweden.
The winners receive equal shares of 11 million Swedish kronor (almost $1 million), a medal and a diploma.
“Very surprised, sleepy, shocked and very honored,” said Bawendi, one of the laureates, about accepting the award over the phone during the Nobel ceremony. Traditionally, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences convenes laureates around the world on the morning of the Nobel Prize announcement.
Quantum dots are particles so small that their size determines their physical properties.
With brightly colored tubes worthy of a lowbudget scifi film, Johan Aqvist, president of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry, realized some of the potential of quantum dots.
“What you see are quantum dots in a liquid solution,” he said. “The nanoparticles in each of the vials are made of the same simple substance. So how do they differ in color? It’s a quantum effect. The particles are so small that their electrons begin to crowd together. The smallest quantum dots glow blue and the largest ones are yellow and red. They only differ in size, nothing else.”
Accidental disclosure of honoree names
This year’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry was marked by the announcement of the names who would receive the award via email early in the Swedish morning. However, the meeting to finalize the winners will theoretically take place shortly before the winners are announced to the rest of the world.
During the press conference for the award ceremony, Hans Ellegren, Secretary General of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, was repeatedly asked about this fact. “No decision will be made until it is made,” Ellegren said of the announcement before the actual meeting to determine the names of the honorees.
“For unknown reasons, a press release was sent out. We’ve been very active in trying to figure out what happened, but we don’t know. We deeply regret that this happened. What’s important is that it didn’t impact the honorees in any way,” Ellegren said, walking over and exchanging a few words at the end of his speech. “Nobel Prize nominations are a very long process and the decision on the prize is not made until the Academy meets, and the Academy met this morning.”
How the Nobel Prize winner is selected
The Nobel Prize began with the death of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel (18331896). In his 1895 will, Nobel stated that the assets he left behind should be used to build a prize. The chemist’s family objected to the idea. The first prize was not awarded until 1901.
Chemistry was the most important science for the work of Nobel, the inventor of dynamite and responsible for the development of synthetic rubber and leather. The chemist registered 355 patents in his 63 years of life.
The selection of the winner in the field of chemistry begins one year before the award ceremony. In September, the Nobel Committee for Chemistry sends out invitations (around 3,000) to nominate names deserving of this award. Responses will be sent by January 31st.
Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences can suggest names; members of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry and Physics; Nobel Prize winner in Physics and Chemistry; Chemistry professors at universities and technology institutes in Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Iceland and Norway and at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm; Professors in similar positions at at least six other universities (but usually hundreds) selected by the Academy of Sciences with the aim of ensuring appropriate distribution across continents and fields of knowledge; and other scholars whom the Academy deems suitable to receive the invitations.
Selfnominations will not be accepted.
A process then begins of analyzing the hundreds of selected names, consulting with experts and developing reports to narrow down the selection. Finally, in October, the Academy decides by majority vote on who will receive recognition.
Recent history of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry
In 2022, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry went to Carolyn Bertozzi, Morten Meldal and Barry Sharples for developing an ingenious tool for building molecules. Scientists are responsible for studies of socalled “click” chemistry and bioorthogonal chemistry.
In 2021, the prize went to Benjamin List from the Max Planck Institute in Germany and David MacMillan from Princeton University in the USA. Scientists have been awarded prizes for developing an ingenious and powerful tool for building organic molecules called asymmetric organocatalysis.
In 2020, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry was 100% female. The award went to Emmanuelle Charpentier from the Max Planck Institute (Germany) and Jennifer Doudna from the University of California, Berkeley (USA). It was important to the researchers to open the door to the possibility of rewriting the code of life through gene editing. You may have already heard of the technique used for this: CrisprCas9.
In 2019, John B. Goodenough, M. Stanley Whittingham and Akira Yoshino received the Nobel Prize in the field for the development of lithiumion batteries.
For transferring evolution to test tubes, the 2018 Nobel Prize in Chemistry went to Frances H. Arnold from the USA, George P. Smith, also from the USA, and Gregory P. Winter from the United Kingdom.
In 2017, research into electron cryomicroscopy, a technique that makes it possible to freeze molecules in the midst of biochemical processes like in a photograph of life was awarded the Nobel Prize. The winners were Jacques Dubochet from the University of Lausanne, Joachim Frank from Columbia University and Richard Henderson from the University of Cambridge.