NOBEL PRIZES 2023

Every October, the world anticipates the Nobel Prize announcements, recognizing outstanding individuals from various fields, including scientists, writers, economists, and human rights leaders. These prestigious awards, established by Alfred Nobel in 1895 will, remain a symbol of excellence.

2. About Nobel Prize

The Nobel Prize is a series of six international awards bestowed annually by the Nobel Foundation for outstanding achievements in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, peace, and economics. The prizes were established by the will of Alfred Nobel, a Swedish chemist, engineer, industrialist, and inventor of dynamite, who died in 1896. The first Nobel Prizes were awarded in 1901.

Nobel Prize Facts

• The Nobel Prize 2023 was announced in early October 2023 to new faces from around the globe, consisting of the world’s most elite roster of scientists, writers, economists, and human rights leaders.
• The Nobel Prize consists of a Nobel Medal and Diploma, and a document confirming the prize amount.
• The Nobel Peace Prize is presented in Norway while the other awards are handed out in Sweden.
• The awardees of the 2023 Nobel Prize will receive in prize money Swedish kronor (SEK) 11.0 million for a full Prize.

Importance of Nobel Prize

The Nobel Prize is one of the most prestigious awards in the world. It is a recognition of excellence in the fields of physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, peace, and economics. The Nobel Prize laureates are some of the most brilliant and influential minds in the world, and their work has had a profound impact on society.

How are candidates nominated for the Nobel Prize?

• Every year, the Nobel Committees of the four prize-awarding institutions invite thousands of people to submit nominations for the Nobel Prizes for the coming year.
• These nominators include members of academies, university professors, scientists, previous Nobel Prize laureates, and members of parliamentary assemblies.
• Nominators are selected in such a way that as many countries and universities as possible are represented over time. No one can nominate themselves for a Nobel Prize.
• The nomination process starts in September of the previous year and ends on January 31 (except for the Nobel Peace Prize, nominations for which close on February 1).
• The Nobel Prizes are announced in October, and the Nobel Laureates receive their awards on December 10 in Stockholm. The names of the nominees cannot be revealed until 50 years later.

About attosecond science

• Attosecond science is the study of processes that happen on the timescale of attoseconds, which are one trillionth of a second. This is incredibly fast, even compared to femtosecond processes, which happen on the timescale of one quadrillionth of a second.
• Attosecond science is important because it allows us to study the motion of electrons within atoms. This is important for understanding a wide range of phenomena, including chemical reactions, laser physics, and materials science.

How did Agostini, Krausz, and L’Huillier make attosecond science possible?

• Agostini, Krausz, and L’Huillier developed new methods for generating attosecond pulses of light. These methods are based on the interaction of light with atoms and molecules.
• One of the key challenges in attosecond science is that attosecond pulses of light are very weak. Agostini, Krausz, and L’Huillier developed new techniques for amplifying attosecond pulses of light, making them more useful for experiments.

Potential applications of attosecond science

• Attosecond pulses of light can be used to develop new types of electronic devices, such as faster transistors and more efficient solar cells.
• Attosecond pulses of light can be used to develop new medical treatments, such as cancer therapies.
• Attosecond pulses of light can be used to study the fundamental laws of physics, such as the behaviour of matter at the atomic and subatomic levels.
• Attosecond pulses of light can be used to study the chemical reactions that take place between atoms and molecules.
• Attosecond pulses of light can be used to study the biological processes that occur within cells.

Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2022

Moungi G. Bawendi, Louis E. Brus, and Alexei I. Ekimov have been awarded the 2023 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the discovery and synthesis of quantum dots. Quantum dots are nanoparticles so tiny that their size determines their properties. They have unique optical and electronic properties and are used in a variety of applications, including television screens, LED lamps, solar cells, and medical imaging.

 

About quantum dots

Quantum dots are semiconductor nanoparticles that are typically only a few nanometers in diameter. When a quantum dot is illuminated with light, it emits light of a specific colour, depending on its size. Quantum dots can also be used to catalyze chemical reactions and to image biological tissues.

Potential applications of quantum dots

Quantum dots have a wide range of potential applications, including:

• Quantum dots can be used to create brighter and more energy-efficient displays for televisions, computers, and other devices.
• Quantum dots can be used to create more efficient and durable LED lamps.
• Quantum dots can be used to increase the efficiency of solar cells.
• Quantum dots can be used to image biological tissues in high resolution.
• Quantum dots are also being explored for use in a variety of other applications, such as drug delivery, sensing, and catalysis.

3.4. Literature Nobel Prize 2023

About Jon Fosse

• Jon Fosse is a Norwegian author who writes in Nynorsk, the least common of the two official versions of Norwegian.
• He is known for his plays and prose, which are characterized by their simplicity, minimalism, and searing dialogue.
• His work explores themes such as the absurdity, futility, and yet the power of the human condition; everyday confusions and irresolutions; and the difficulty to form actual connections, despite and sometimes because of conversation.
• Fosse has been celebrated in Europe for a long time, but he is not as well-known in the United Kingdom or the United States.
• His popularity has increased in recent years, however, and he is now considered to be one of the leading contemporary European playwrights.
• Fosse was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2023 for his “innovative plays and prose which give voice to the unsayable.”
• The Nobel Committee praised Fosse’s ability to evoke “man’s loss of orientation, and how this paradoxically can provide access to a deeper experience close to divinity.”
• Fosse’s Nobel Prize is a significant recognition of his work and the Nynorsk language. It is also a reminder of the power of literature to explore the universal and the political through visceral self-introspection.

3.5. Nobel Peace Prize 2023

About Narges Mohammadi

• Narges Mohammadi is an Iranian activist who has been fighting for human rights and freedom for all, especially for women. She is the 19th woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize.
• Mohammadi was arrested in November 2021 after she attended a memorial for a victim of violent 2019 protests. She is currently serving multiple sentences in Tehran's Evin Prison amounting to about 12 years imprisonment.
• Mohammadi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her "courageous and tireless work for human rights in Iran." The Norwegian Nobel Committee praised her for her "fight against the oppression of women and her promotion of freedom of expression and freedom of assembly."
• Mohammadi's award is a significant recognition of her work and the struggle for human rights in Iran. It is also a reminder of the importance of fighting for freedom and justice, even in the face of persecution.

3.6. Economics Nobel Prize 2023

About Claudia Goldin

Key findings

• Goldin's research has shown that female participation in the labour market has not had a steady upward trend over time but rather forms a U-shaped curve.
• This is because the participation of married women decreased with the transition from an agrarian to an industrial society in the early 19th century, but then started to increase with the growth of the service sector in the early 20th century.
• Goldin has also shown that the contraceptive pill played an important role in increasing female labour market participation by offering new opportunities for career planning.
• Goldin has shown that the bulk of the earnings gap between men and women is now between men and women in the same occupation and that it largely arises with the birth of the first child.

The significance of Goldin's work

• Goldin's work has had a major impact on our understanding of the role of women in the labour market. Her findings have implications for policymakers, businesses, and individuals alike.
• For example, policymakers can use Goldin's research to design policies that encourage women to participate in the labour market and to reduce the earnings gap. Businesses can use her research to develop more effective diversity and inclusion initiatives. And individuals can use her research to make more informed decisions about their careers and families.

India has seen several of its own individuals of Indian origin recognized with the Nobel Prize. This includes Rabindranath Tagore (Literature, 1913), C V Raman (Physics, 1930), Hargobind Khorana (Medicine, 1968), Mother Teresa (Peace, 1979), Subramanian Chandrashekhar (Physics, 1983), the Dalai Lama (Peace, 1989), Amartya Sen (Economics, 1998), Venkatraman Ramakrishnan (Chemistry, 2009), Kailash Satyarthi (Peace, 2014), and Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee (Economics, 2019).

It's notable that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), led by R K Pachauri, received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007.

Image Source: Reddit

The Nobel Prize's Regret

• The Nobel Prize website acknowledges a regrettable omission, especially concerning Mahatma Gandhi, in the section 'Mahatma Gandhi, the missing laureate.'
• It reflects on the Nobel Peace Prize's history up to 1960 when it was primarily awarded to Europeans and Americans.
• In hindsight, the Nobel Committee's scope may appear overly limited.
• Gandhi, a distinctly unique individual, did not fit the conventional mould of earlier Laureates.
• He was not a conventional politician, an advocate of international law, or chiefly a humanitarian relief worker.
• Nor did he organize international peace congresses. His contributions might have ushered in a new category of Laureates.

Notable Exclusions

Two eminent Indian physicists, Meghnad Saha and Satyendranath Bose, are conspicuous omissions from the list of Nobel Laureates. Although both were nominated multiple times, the Nobel Committee did not recognize their exceptional contributions.