Moungi Bawendi is a professor at one of the most prestigious American universities, namely the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Yesterday it became clear that he will receive the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, together with Louis Brus and Aleksej Ekimov. The three have worked with quantum dots, which are used in modern TV screens and solar panels, for example. In addition, it is used in medicine. Bawendi was good at science in secondary school and upper secondary school, writes the news agency AFP. Nevertheless, there was little sign that he would end up with a Nobel Prize when he started at Harvard University in the late 70s. Facts about the Nobel Prizes The Nobel Prizes were established on the basis of the will of the Swedish inventor, scientist, writer and pacifist Alfred Nobel, who became a very wealthy man after inventing dynamite. According to Alfred Nobel’s will, the Nobel Foundation was established in 1900 to manage the fortune that Nobel left behind. The foundation’s assets are currently over SEK 3 billion. Since 1901, the Nobel Prize has been awarded in the categories of physiology/medicine, physics, chemistry, literature and peace. In 1968, Sveriges Riksbank instituted a prize in economics in Alfred Nobel’s honour. This award was first presented in 1969. Each award consists of a gold medal, a diploma and money. The total price is currently SEK 9 million. From 1901 to 2018, a total of 597 prizes have been awarded to 950 prize winners. Of these, 908 are individuals, while 27 are organisations. A small number of prize winners have received the prize more than once, which means that 919 individuals and 24 individual organizations can call themselves Nobel Prize winners. The figures include the 84 winners of the economics award. Between 1901 and 2019, only 54 women have been awarded a Nobel Prize. The youngest winner was Malala Yousafzai, who received the peace prize in 2014 when she was 17 years old. The oldest prize winner is John B. Goodenough, who will be 96 years old when he now receives the chemistry prize in 2019. All prizes are awarded on 10 December each year, on Alfred Nobel’s death anniversary. The Peace Prize is awarded in Oslo. The other prizes are awarded in Stockholm. The Nobel Prizes are considered to be some of the world’s most prestigious prizes. Source: NTB Worst in the class – I wasn’t used to reading for exams, says the new winner. So when he appeared for his first exam at Harvard, he struggled. – I panicked. I looked at the first question and couldn’t solve it. I couldn’t answer the second question either. In the end, he got 20 out of 100, which was the lowest score in the entire class. – I thought “My God, this is the end for me – what am I doing here?” Bawendi had not prepared for exams before, even though he loves chemistry. But a little trick made things a lot easier. A good piece of advice for young people – I found out what I should study, something I didn’t know before. After he learned a proper study technique, it worked out. Then he had almost 100 points on every single exam. The professor has clear advice for young promising people today. – Hold out! It could have easily ruined for me, the first experience of getting an F, the worst grade in the class. Bawendi was not the one who discovered quantum dots. But he revolutionized the technique of making them so that they could be used in mass production. – Be flexible and curious. Curiosity is the key to success in science, he says. Moungi Bawendi has won a number of awards for his work. At MIT, the Nobel laureate has his own laboratory named after him. Photo: Jodi Hilton / MIT/AFP Money and glory Along with Professor Bawendi, chemists Louis Brus and Aleksej Ekimov also received the prestigious award. Brus works at Columbia University and Ekimov at Nanocrystals Technology. The winners were apparently accidentally revealed in a press release sent out to Swedish media four hours before the announcement on Wednesday. In addition to the honor of having won a Nobel Prize, the researchers also receive a sum of money of 11 million Swedish kroner.
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Nobel Prize winner fails his first chemistry exam – news Trøndelag – Local news, TV and radio
