Nobel Prize 2025 Winners List

• The 2025 Nobel Prizes in six categories —Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, Peace, and Economic Sciences —were awarded.

About the Nobel Prize

• Nobel Prize is a set of prestigious international awards given annually for outstanding achievements. Recipients of the prize are called Laureates.
• It was established by the will of Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel (the inventor of dynamite).
• The first Nobel Prizes were awarded in 1901, and they have been awarded annually since then. They were not awarded  during World War I (1914–1918) and II (1939–1945).
• It is formally presented on December 10, the anniversary of Nobel’s death in 1896.
• Given in 6 fields: Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, Peace, and Economic Sciences.
  • Prize in Economic Sciences was introduced in 1968 by Sveriges Riksbank (Swedish central bank)
• A Nobel Prize can be shared by up to three individuals. In the case of the peace prize, it can also be awarded to an organisation.
• To become a Nobel Prize laureate one must be nominated for a prize by an eligible nominator. Self-nomination is not allowed.
• Nobel Prize cannot be awarded posthumously. However, since 1974, if the recipient dies after the prize has been announced, they can still be awarded it
• First Indian Nobel Laureate was Rabindranath Tagore, for Literature (1913).
• First Indian woman Nobel Laureate was Mother Teresa, for Peace (1979).

Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2025

• The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry to three scientists, Susumu Kitagawa (Japan), Richard Robson (Australia), and Omar M. Yaghi (USA), for their groundbreaking development of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs).

About Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs)

• Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are crystalline, porous materials made of metal ions as “nodes” connected by organic molecules called “linkers.”
• Functionality: Their lattice structure creates large cavities that can store substances, catalyse reactions, or conduct electricity.
• Porosity: MOFs have large internal surface areas, often exceeding 7,000 square meters per gram, which allows for remarkable molecular adsorption and storage capacity.
• Tunable Design: By modifying metal nodes and linkers, chemists can accurately control pore size, geometry, and reactivity for specialised applications.

Applications of Metal-Organic Frameworks

Nobel Prize in Physics 2025

• The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics to John Clarke (UK), Michel Devoret (France), and John Martinis (USA) for the discovery of macroscopic quantum mechanical tunnelling and energy quantisation in an electric circuit.
• Their discovery confirmed that quantum phenomena, once thought limited to subatomic particles, can also manifest in macroscopic systems, expanding the boundaries of quantum mechanics.
• At the heart of their breakthrough was a device known as a Josephson junction, which consists of two superconducting materials separated by a thin insulating layer.

About Macroscopic Quantum Tunnelling (MQT)

• Quantum mechanics permits a particle to pass directly through a barrier via a process known as quantum tunnelling.
• Macroscopic quantum tunnelling occurs when a large-scale system crosses an energy barrier (quantum tunnelling) without having enough classical energy to do so.
  • Energy Barrier is a region of higher potential energy that classically prevents particles or systems from moving across.

• Quantum Principle: This tunnelling phenomenon occurs because of wave-particle duality, where matter behaves both as a particle and a wave.
• Significance: Demonstrating MQT in visible circuits bridges the gap between quantum and classical physics, thereby paving the way for the development of quantum technologies.

Josephson Junction

• A Josephson junction consists of two superconductors separated by an ultrathin insulating layer that allows quantum tunnelling of electron pairs.
• Mechanism: Cooper pairs pass through the insulating barrier via Quantum Tunnelling, producing a supercurrent to flow without any applied voltage.
• Qubits: These junctions form the building blocks of quantum bits (qubits) used in quantum computers.
• Innovation: Clarke and his team improved shielding and cooling techniques to precisely isolate the setup from interference and confirm quantum effects on a macroscopic scale.

Significance of the Discovery

• These discoveries help bridge the conceptual gap between quantum physics and macroscopic engineered devices.
• They are foundational for quantum technologies such as quantum computing, quantum sensing, and quantum cryptography.

Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2025

• The 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded for their groundbreaking discoveries concerning peripheral immune tolerance that prevents the immune system from harming the body.
• Shimon Sakaguchi (Japan) received the award for discovering regulatory T-cells.
• Mary E. Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell (USA) were honoured for identifying the Foxp3 gene, which controls immune regulation.

About Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

• The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is awarded by the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, for outstanding contributions to medical research.
• First Laureate: In 1901, Emil von Behring received it for developing serum therapy to treat diphtheria.
• Indian–Origin Laureate: In 1968, Har Gobind Khorana became the first Indian winner for decoding the genetic code guiding protein synthesis.

Peripheral Immune Tolerance

• Scientists previously believed that the immune system prevented self-damage solely through central tolerance, which occurs in the thymus and bone marrow.
• Some self-reactive T cells that escape central tolerance are restrained in peripheral tissues (e.g., lymph nodes, spleen). This stops them from mistakenly attacking healthy tissue.
• Shimon Sakaguchi‘s pioneering work (in the mid-1990s) challenged prevailing views by demonstrating the existence of a subtype of T-cells called regulatory T-cells (Tregs) that identify and suppress these escaped self-reactive T-cells.
• Mary Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell further advanced the field by identifying the FOXP3 gene. They showed that mutations in the FOXP3 gene disable regulatory T-cells, causing uncontrolled immune activation and loss of self-tolerance.
• Together, their work elucidated how regulatory T cells enforce peripheral immune tolerance, thereby protecting the body from autoimmune damage while still allowing immune responses to pathogens.
• Therapeutic Value: Insights into regulatory T-cells can guide new treatments for autoimmune diseases, organ transplants, and cancer immunotherapy.

Nobel Prize in Economics 2025

• The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics 2025 to Joel Mokyr, Philippe Aghion and Peter Howitt “for having explained innovation-driven economic growth”.
• One half of the prize will go to Joel Mokyr “for identifying the prerequisites for sustained growth through technological progress.”
• The other half will be shared jointly by Philippe Aghion and Peter Howitt “for the theory of sustained growth through creative destruction.”
• The official name for Nobel Prize in Economics is the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel. It was established in 1968 by Sweden’s central bank (Sveriges Riksbank) in memory of Alfred Nobel, and first awarded in 1969.
• Though not one of the original five prizes in Nobel’s will, it is administered in the same framework by the Nobel Foundation and awarded alongside the other Nobel Prizes.
• The award recognises contributions in economic science that have conferred the greatest benefit on humankind.

Contribution of the Nobel Laureates

Mokyr’s Contribution

• Historical Foundations: Mokyr highlighted how Europe’s Scientific Revolution fostered sustained economic growth by combining technological progress with intellectual development.
• Knowledge Fusion: He explained that blending practical “prescriptive” knowledge (knowing how) with theoretical “propositional” knowledge (knowing why) created a self-sustaining innovation ecosystem.
• Industrial Enlightenment: Mokyr coined the term (Industrial Enlightenment) to describe a period when openness to new ideas and scientific curiosity fuelled cycles of innovation and productivity.

Aghion & Howitt’s Contribution

• Model Development: Aghion and Howitt created mathematical models based on Joseph Schumpeter’s theory of “Creative Destruction.”
• Creative Destruction: Their model shows how new technologies, firms, and ideas replace outdated ones, keeping economies competitive and productive.
• Policy Implication: They emphasised that strong competition, education, & research investment are crucial for sustaining innovation-driven growth.

Nobel Prize in Literature 2025

• The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Literature to Hungarian novelist and screenwriter László Krasznahorkai.
• He is known for distinct long sentences that can span dozens of pages, his acclaimed works include Satantango (1985) and The Melancholy of Resistance (1989).
• Citation: The Academy honoured him for an introspective body of work that reaffirms art’s enduring humanistic power amid apocalyptic themes.

Nobel Peace Prize 2025

• The Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado.
• She was honoured for promoting democratic rights and advocating a peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy in Venezuela.
• Political Role: Machado, the leader of the Vente Venezuela party, has mobilised civic movements demanding judicial independence, electoral transparency, and human rights protection.