Nobel Prize

“One child, one teacher, one pen and one book can change the world.” 🌎 12 July is the birthday of Nobel Peace Prize laureate and activist Malala Yousafzai. Since 2013 the date has also been recognised as Malala Day by the UN, in acknowledgment of her efforts for equality and children’s right to education. At 17 years old, Malala was the youngest person ever to be awarded a Nobel Prize. She received her prize “for their struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to education”. Ever since, she has continued her work for educational rights as the executive chair and co-founder of the @malalafund, a foundation that strives to make a minimum of twelve years of education accessable to all girls. Swipe through the carousel to learn more about her inspiring life. Happy Birthday @malala! ✨ Photos by David Exodus | UN photo, Holy-Marie Cato for Malala Fund, Nanaka Adachi, Southbank Centre, Ken Opprann and Jon Terje Hellgren Hansen

What mystery excites you? In our podcast conversation with medicine laureate Victor Ambros, he spoke about the excitement of making a discovery. Ambros also emphasised how there are many mysteries still to be solved. Listen to the full episode by clicking the link in our bio.

AN URGENT MESSAGE FROM THE NORWEGIAN NOBEL COMMITTEE REGARDING NARGES MOHAMMADI The Norwegian Nobel Committee is alarmed by reports of serious threats against Narges Mohammadi, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2023. Ms. Mohammadi was awarded the prize for her fight against the oppression of women in Iran and her fight to promote human rights and freedom for all. In an urgent phone call with Jørgen Watne Frydnes, Chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Ms. Mohammadi stated that she has – both through her lawyers and through indirect channels – received warnings. The clear message, in her own words, is that “I have been directly and indirectly threatened with 'physical elimination' by agents of the regime.” The threats conveyed to Ms. Mohammadi make it clear that her security is at stake, unless she commits to end all public engagement within Iran, as well as any international advocacy or media appearances in support of democracy, human rights, and freedom of expression. “The Norwegian Nobel Committee is deeply concerned about the threats against Narges Mohammadi and, more broadly, all Iranian citizens with a critical voice, and call upon the authorities to safeguard not only their lives, but also their freedom of expression”, says Jørgen Watne Frydnes, Chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee. Read the statement at the link in our bio. Photo: © Reihane Taravati

As bacteria become resistant to existing antibiotics, we are running out of drugs to treat infectious diseases. This is a problem that Alexander Fleming, who discovered penicillin, foresaw already in 1945. Today the hunt is on to find new antibiotics with the potential to save millions of lives. Read more about the unseen enemy by clicking the link in our bio. Photo credit: Kateryna Kon /Science Photo Library via Getty Images.

Using a new type of microscope, Richard Zsigmondy found it was possible to differentiate between particles that were too small to be observed under an ordinary microscope. His discovery earned him the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 100 years ago and inspired future Nobel Prize laureates including Albert Einstein. Zsigmondy’s scientific breakthrough more than a century ago has played an important role for modern science. By observing an intensely-lit solution at an angle perpendicular to the illuminating beam of light Zsigmondy found it was possible to differentiate between so-called small colloidal particles. His work still underpins modern colloid science. Today applications of colloidal particles are abundant. The most spectacular is the use of LNPs (lipid nanoparticles) in the COVID vaccine to transport mRNA to cells. Similar particles are used to control the release of drugs in the body. Learn more by clicking the link in our bio. Photo: Bettmann via Getty Images.

"This experience taught me an important lesson: that introducing a new experimental system is generally more rewarding than trying to find new phenomena within crowded areas. The chances of success are much higher where the field is new. Of course, the fantastic results one originally hopes for are unlikely to materialise, but, in the process of studying any new system, something original inevitably shows up." Read about physics laureate Andre Geim's extraordinary scientific journey in his Nobel Prize lecture where he speaks about levitating frogs and discovering the new material graphene - click the link in our bio.

"Women bring the human side of conflict to the table." Leymah Gbowee explains why women must be involved in conversations about how to accomplish peace. In 1990, Liberia’s civil war erupted. Leymah Gbowee trained in trauma therapy to support traumatised child soldiers. In 2002, she founded the Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace, a grass roots movement that united Christian and Muslim women in non-violent protests. Their demonstrations pressured President Charles Taylor to sign a peace agreement in 2003. Gbowee shares the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize with Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Tawakkol Karman “for their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women's rights to full participation in peace-building work.” Watch her Nobel Prize lecture at the link in bio.

Marie Skłodowska Curie is still the only individual to receive the Nobel Prize in two different science categories. Her relentless resolve and insatiable curiosity made her an icon in the world of modern science. Indefatigable despite a career of physically demanding and ultimately fatal work, she discovered polonium and radium, championed the use of radiation in medicine and fundamentally changed our understanding of radioactivity. Read her full story by clicking the link in our bio.

The 48-Year Puzzle: Discovering the #HiggsBoson 🧩 On this day 13 years ago, the @atlasexperiment and @cmsexperiment announced the existence of a particle with characteristics consistent with those of the #HiggsBoson. But how did we go from theory to discovery? Watch to explore the scientific journey that culminated in finding the Higgs boson. This discovery led to the 2013 @nobelprize in Physics being awarded to François Englert and Peter Higgs for their 1964 proposal of the Brout–Englert–Higgs mechanism—a mechanism explaining how fundamental particles acquire mass. Find out more in our stories.

There’s only one person who has received Nobel Prizes in both physics and chemistry 🧪 🔭 Do you know who, and why? Watch the video to find out! The answer: Maria Skłodowska-Curie, also known as Marie Curie, is the only individual in history awarded Nobel Prizes in two different scientific fields. Her pioneering research on radioactivity laid the foundation for nuclear physics and cancer treatment, and led to the discovery of polonium and radium. Today, July 4th, marks 90 years since her passing. Let’s remember the important impact she made on the world! Full video on my TikTok and Youtube ✨ didn’t realise Instagram cut off the video, sorry about that! #nobelprize #womeninscience #womeninstem

"We can animate how chemistry behaves." - chemistry laureate Morten Meldal. Meldal was awarded the 2022 chemistry prize “for the development of click chemistry and bioorthogonal chemistry.”

Ever thought of these three beautiful but rather odd words? Enter Wisława Szymborska's poetic universe in a poem where she highlights words that gives food for thought. Strong relativism and openness are well known to be important dimensions in the temporal sphere at the basis of Wisława Szymborska‘s poetry. The way in which she links the past with the present, the present with what is to come and the event/experience of a moment with the weightless dimension of eternity is what gives this poetry its greatest strength. Click the link in our bio to enter Szymborska's poetic universe and read more of her poetry.