Twelve Nobel Laureates of 2022

Alain Aspect is a scientist of French origin who is known for research in the field of quantum physics. He was awarded Nobel Prize along with John Clauser and Anton Zeilinger. Their work involved experiments with entangled photons which confirmed that the predictions of local realistic models disagree with those of quantum mechanics. The research and experiments of Alain opened way for quantum information science which is an interdisciplinary field.

In 2012, Alain was awarded Albert Einstein Medal which is given to those scientists who make new discoveries after the Einstein’s legacy.

Clauser is known for his contributions to the foundations of quantum mechanics, a scientist of American origin; he was awarded Nobel prize jointly with Alain Aspect and Anton Zeilinger. Back in 1974, his work showed that Bell’s Theorem was a real constraint against the local theories of nature. The theorem asserts that if certain predictions of the quantum theory are proved then this world is non-local, proving interactions far apart in space.

Anton Zeilinger is a quantum physicist of Austrian origin, who teaches at the University of Vienna. His research and experiments includes quantum application of entanglement phenomenon. Additionally, in 2007 he was awarded Isaac Newton Medal. He is known for his Quantum Teleportation experiment over 144 kilometres between two Canary Islands. The field of teleportation is an important concept in quantum information protocols. He was awarded Nobel prize with Alain Aspect, Anton Zeilinger for his work on entangled protons confirming Bell’s Theorem.

Carolyn R. Bertozzi  is a chemist from America and is well known for her biological research work. It’s safe to say that she pioneered the term bioorthogonal chemistry which is an interdisciplinary branch of knowledge exploring chemical reactions compatible with living organisms. She was awarded Nobel Prize jointly with Morten P. Meldal and Karl Barry Sharpless for their work in Click Chemistry, a branch of knowledge allowing to bind a molecule with a substrate of choice.

Meldal was born in Denmark and is known for his work in chemistry. During his Ph.D. he researched on synthetic chemistry of carbohydrates, something which must have helped him in securing Nobel Prize. He received 2022 Chemistry Nobel prize with Carolyn R. Bertozzi and Karl Barry Sharpless for his work related to Click Chemistry.

Karl Barry Sharpless is an American chemist who is two-time Nobel laureate, distinguishing him from other Chemistry 2022 Nobel Prize winners. Earlier, he won Nobel Prize in 2001 for his research work on catalysed oxidation reactions. In 2022, he was jointly given Nobel prize for click chemistry along with Morten Meldal and Carolyn R. Bertozzi, a field which deals in a class of biocompatible small molecule allowing scientists to make complex products which wasn’t possible earlier.

Pääbo brought forward an important leaf of human ancestral history, a scientist from Sweden who specialises in evolutionary genetics. One of the founders of paleogenetics who worked on Neanderthal genome, a homo sapiens ancestor. He was awarded Nobel prize in Physiology for his discoveries regarding the genomes of the now-extinct homonins paving a way for humans to understand their evolution. One of the important discovery made by Pääbo is that he found that a gene transfer occurred between extinct hominins to Home sapiens after the migration from Africa some 70,000 years ago.

Annie Ernaux belongs to France and won Nobel prize in literature. One of the unique fact about her writings is the usage of sociology. She has mostly written autobiographies. The reason for which she was given Nobel prize include courage and clinical examination as she uncovers roots, estrangements and collective restraints of the personal memory in autobiographies. In the start of her career, she also wrote fiction. The Washington Post in 1999 termed her memoir “I Remain in Darkness” as one of the best.

Ales Viktaravich Bialiatski belongs to Belarus and he was awarded Nobel Peace Prize 2022. He is a pro-democrat and prisoner of conscience who founded Belarusian Popular front which led Belarus to earn independence from Soviet Union. The New York Times termed him a pillar of the human rights in the Eastern Europe. All of his activism came at a cost, he was imprisoned twice from 2011 to 2014 and again he was arrested in 2021. He is still jailed by the Belarusian authorities.

Ben Shalom Bernanke belongs to America, an economist who has served as the 14th chairman of the Federal Reserve. He is famous for his policies during the 2007-2008 financial crisis which is considered equivalent to The Great Depression of 1929. He was awarded Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences due to his research on banks and financial crisis. According to Bernanke’s book, The Courage to Act, it was solely because of the efforts of The Federal Reserve that the economic crisis of late 2000s didn’t turn into a catastrophe greater than The Great Depression.

Douglas W. Diamond belongs to America who is a leading economist for his research work. He specialises in the study of financial crisis and liquidity, therefore, he was awarded 2022 Nobel Prize in economic sciences with Ben S. Bernanke and Philip H. Dybvig. Diamond worked on Bank Runs which explains quick withdrawal of deposited funds by the people on speculation of a crisis. The model which explains the phenomenon is called Diamond-Dybvig model.

Philip H. Dybvig is an economist of American descent who teaches banking and finance at the Washington University. He specialises in corporate governance and asset management. He is known for his joint work with Douglas Warren Diamond which helped them create their Diamond-Dybvig model explaining bank runs. Dybvig was awareded 2022 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences jointly with Ben S. Bernanke and Douglas W. Diamond for research on banks and financial crisis.