Nobel Prize

Nobel Prize Conversations The discovery that opened up a new field of chemistry Listen to the 2025 chemistry laureates talk about their Nobel Prize-awarded work and life learnings in this podcast conversation with Adam Smith. Podcast transcript Richard Robson: I used to sit down and let my mind drift, most of the time useless activity.…

Interview with the 2025 medicine laureate Shimon Sakaguchi on 6 December 2025 during Nobel Week in Stockholm, Sweden. Tell us about your childhood  Shimon Sakaguchi: I was born in Japan, in a rural area. I really enjoyed playing in nature. Always after school, we’d go out together with other kids until the sunset. We enjoyed…

Interview with the 2025 economic sciences laureate Philippe Aghion on 6 December 2025 during Nobel Week in Stockholm, Sweden. How were you as a child?  Philippe Aghion: I had very creative parents. My father wanted to do social revolution in Egypt, and was close to the surrealism movement. He was close to Tristan Tzara, who…

Interview with the 2025 economic sciences laureate Peter Howitt on 6 December 2025 during Nobel Week in Stockholm, Sweden. How were you as a child?  Peter Howitt: I was a very happy child, I’m told, for most of my upbringing in a small city in Ontario, Canada. When I became a teenager and went to…

Interview with the 2025 Nobel Prize laureate in chemistry Richard Robson on 6 December 2025 during Nobel Week in Stockholm, Sweden. Can you tell us about your childhood?  Richard Robson: I grew up in a small village in Yorkshire and the village was built around a wool mill. My father was in the building section…

A chance discovery made around 80 years ago paved the way for Mary Brunkow’s painstaking work, which contributed to redefining how the immune system functions. From investigating an obscure gene dismissed as ‘junk’ by other scientists, to choosing to opt out of academia and conduct her research at a biotech startup, Brunkow has embraced the unexpected throughout her career.

Interview with the 2025 Nobel Prize laureate in physics Michel Devoret on 6 December 2025 during Nobel Week in Stockholm, Sweden. Can you tell us about your childhood?  Michel Devoret: I was born in 1953. My father was a biologist, and my mother was a schoolteacher. I grew up first in the city of Montreuil,…

Interview with the 2025 Nobel Prize laureate in chemistry Susumu Kitagawa on 6 December 2025 during Nobel Week in Stockholm, Sweden. How did you become interested in science?  Susumu Kitagawa: I was born in Kyoto and I graduated from Kyoto University. I enjoyed very much my life in Kyoto, because Kyoto is a 1,200-years-old capital.…

Interview with the 2025 Nobel Prize laureate in physics John Martinis on 6 December 2025 during Nobel Week in Stockholm, Sweden. Can you tell us about your childhood?   John Martinis: Both my parents did not go to college. My father was a fireman, which actually is a very technical occupation where you have to know…

Interview with the 2025 Nobel Prize laureate in literature László Krasznahorkai on 6 December 2025 during Nobel Week in Stockholm, Sweden.   Could you describe the environment in Hungary when you were growing up?  László Krasznahorkai: It was a small town and remain a small town also today. I was born there, and I lived there…