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Nobel prize
Who won the Nobel prize in chemistry? Discover the science that made them a Nobel laureate with news, interviews and features from Chemistry World
2023: quantum dots
The Nobel prize in chemistry 2023 was awarded to Moungi G. Bawendi, Louis E. Brus and Aleksey Yekimov ‘for the discovery and synthesis of quantum dots’
The quantum dot story
Julia Robinson explains how quantum dots went from a theoretical prediction to everyday reality and earned Alexei Ekimov, Louis Brus and Moungi Bawendi the 2023 Nobel prize in chemistry
Do other chemistry prizes predict the Nobels?
We’ve looked at the numbers so you don’t have to
2023 Nobel prize in chemistry goes to trio behind quantum dots
Moungi Bawendi, Louis Brus, and Alexei Ekimov win chemistry’s top prize for work that ended up in high resolution TVs and displays
Explainer: why have quantum dots won the 2023 Nobel prize?
Tiny particles that ‘added colour to nanotechnology’ have uses in TV screens, synthetic chemistry and medical devices
The 2023 Nobel prize in chemistry as it happens – live
Moungi Bawendi, Louis Brus and Alexei Ekimov win chemistry Nobel for quantum dots
Ultrafast light pulses scoop Nobel prize in physics
Pierre Agostini, Ferenc Krausz and Anne L’Huillier recognised for work on attosecond experiments for studying electron dynamics
Nobel announcement bingo
Try your luck as you watch the announcement of the 2023 Nobel prize in chemistry
mRNA vaccine pioneers win medicine Nobel prize
Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman honoured for breakthroughs that enable the rapid development of new vaccines, including several of those used against Covid-19
The day my supervisor won the Nobel prize in chemistry
Celebrations and support in the Bertozzi lab
Nobel prize 2023: Quick crossword
Test your Nobel knowledge with our quick online crossword
Nobel prize in chemistry 2023: Reactions
See our reaction to the 2023 Nobel prize in chemistry announcement
Previous years
- 2022
- 2021
- 2020
- 2019
- 2018
- 2017
- 2016
2022: Click chemistry
The Nobel prize in chemistry 2022 was awarded jointly to Carolyn R. Bertozzi, Morten Meldal and K. Barry Sharpless ‘for the development of click chemistry and bioorthogonal chemistry’
How click conquered chemistry
Katrina Krämer tells the story of how click and bioorthogonal chemistry came to win the 2022 Nobel prize
Nobel vision
Looking beyond the here-and-now let click chemistry open up a whole new world of possibility
Explainer: why have bioorthogonal and click chemistry won the 2022 Nobel prize?
Carolyn Bertozzi, Morten Meldal and Barry Sharpless have won the 2022 Nobel prize in chemistry – find out why
2021: Organocatalysis
The Nobel prize in chemistry 2021 was awarded jointly to Benjamin List and David WC MacMillan ‘for the development of asymmetric organocatalysis’
How organocatalysis won the Nobel prize
Jamie Durrani tells the story of how two young upstarts, Ben List and David MacMillan, created a whole new field of catalysis
Quotas for women or based on ethnicity ruled out for the Nobel prizes
Head of the body that awards the Nobel calls the small number of females Nobel laureates ‘sad’, but says quotas are the wrong approach
Explainer: why has asymmetric organocatalysis won the chemistry Nobel prize?
In a rather unexpected move by the Nobel committee, this year’s prize in chemistry has been awarded to Benjamin List and David MacMillan
2020: Crispr
The Nobel prize in chemistry 2020 was awarded jointly to Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer A Doudna ‘for the development of a method for genome editing’
How Crispr went from niche to Nobel
Katrina Kramer tells the story of how Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna developed the gene editing tool that won them the 2020 Nobel prize in chemistry
UC Berkeley to auction off digital mementos of Nobel prize discoveries
Sale of digital data related to cancer immunotherapy and Crispr will be used to finance research
The Nobel prize that got binned
Ferrocene is a classic example of a discovery that was dismissed as a failed experiment
2019: Lithium-ion batteries
The Nobel prize in chemistry 2019 was awarded jointly to John B Goodenough, M Stanley Whittingham and Akira Yoshino ‘for the development of lithium-ion batteries’
The lithium pioneers
Katrina Krämer traces the full story of how lithium-ion batteries won the 2019 Nobel prize
Lithium-ion battery pioneer John Goodenough dies at 100
Tributes paid to the inventor of the lithium–ion battery, who has passed away a month before his 101st birthday
Hypoxia-inducible factors – HIFs
The oxygen sensors that help life react to changing conditions, key to the 2019 Nobel prize in physiology or medicine
2018: chemical evolution
The Nobel prize in chemistry 2018 was divided, one half awarded to Frances H Arnold ‘for the directed evolution of enzymes’, the other half jointly to George P Smith and Sir Gregory P Winter ‘for the phage display of peptides and antibodies’
How chemical evolution took the 2018 chemistry Nobel prize
Emma Stoye has the full story of how Frances Arnold, George Smith and Greg Winter put evolution to work in the lab
UC Berkeley to auction off digital mementos of Nobel prize discoveries
Sale of digital data related to cancer immunotherapy and Crispr will be used to finance research
The potential of promiscuity
Nobel recognition for a concept whose benefit to humankind is far from being truly realised
2017: Cryo-electron microscopy
The Nobel prize in chemistry 2017 was awarded jointly to Jacques Dubochet, Joachim Frank and Richard Henderson ‘for developing cryo-electron microscopy for the high-resolution structure determination of biomolecules in solution’
Cryo-EM: a cold, hard look at biology
Super cool microscopy wins the 2017 Nobel prize in chemistry
Richard Henderson: ‘I rejected the phone call, and then noticed it was from Sweden…’
The 2017 laureate tells his story
Seeing is believing
Cryo-EM may seem more physics and engineering, but chemistry is its killer app
2016: Molecular machines
The Nobel prize in chemistry 2016 was awarded jointly to Jean-Pierre Sauvage, Sir J Fraser Stoddart and Bernard L. Feringa ’for the design and synthesis of molecular machines’
Supraheroes
The three winners of this year’s chemistry Nobel gave chemists the tools to make molecules into machines. Emma Stoye assembles the story
Jean-Pierre Sauvage: 'You'd be surprised about my taste in music!'
The molecular machine maven talks reading, Jagger and winning a Nobel prize
Rotaxanes
A group of compounds that resemble machine parts could pave the way for molecular robots
Profiles
David MacMillan: ‘The medal is the real celebrity’
The Nobel prize-winner on the joys of handing out his medal to everyone, chatting with William Shatner and Alex Ferguson, and the pain of being a Scottish football fan
Opinions
The day my supervisor won the Nobel prize in chemistry
Celebrations and support in the Bertozzi lab
Nobel vision
Looking beyond the here-and-now let click chemistry open up a whole new world of possibility
The Nobel prize that got binned
Ferrocene is a classic example of a discovery that was dismissed as a failed experiment
The ethical debate around Crispr
The gene editing technique deserves its Nobel Prize, but we should continue to interrogate how it is used
Good enough at last
Neil Withers reflects on the 2019 Nobel prize in chemistry, awarded for developing lithium-ion batteries
Richard Henderson: ‘I rejected the phone call, and then noticed it was from Sweden…’
The 2017 laureate tells his story
The potential of promiscuity
Nobel recognition for a concept whose benefit to humankind is far from being truly realised
Readdressing success
Prizes not only recognise excellence, they can challenge us to be better too
Why we must redefine success
The battle against bias requires compassion, not metrics
How to win a Nobel prize
How to win the Nobel prize part 1: criteria
Bengt Norden discusses the critera against which research is judged
How to win part 2: nominations
Who nominates people for the Nobel prize? Bengt explains the nomination process.
How to win part 3: investigations
In this video, Bengt reveals how the committee investigates nominees to make sure the prize goes to the right person.
How to win part 4: chemistry on rotation?
Bengt tackles the perception that different fields ‘take it in turns’.
How to win part 5: how many people?
Bengt discusses whether the limit of three people will ever change
How to win part 6: 'You've won!'
Winning the Nobel prize has its downsides. Some people change for the worse.
How to win part 7: winners and losers
In our last video, we ask Bengt who should have won, and for his standout recipients
Ig Nobel Prizes
From tipsy worms to pigeon missiles: the quirky triumphs of the 2024 Ig Nobel awards
Chemistry prize rewards work that used worms as analogues of large polymers
Work on why scientists seem to enjoy licking rocks scoops chemistry Ig Nobel
Necrobotics, defecation analysis and boring lectures among other topics honoured in spoof annual award ceremony
Talent versus luck study wins Ig Nobel
Research on ice cream scoops medicine prize
Puzzles and games
Nobel announcement bingo
Try your luck as you watch the announcement of the 2023 Nobel prize in chemistry
Nobel prize 2023: Quick crossword
Test your Nobel knowledge with our quick online crossword
Nobel prize 2022: Quick crossword
Put your Nobel knowledge to the test with our quick online crossword
Play our Nobel laureate card game
Test your knowledge of chemistry Nobel laureates in our interactive card game