Technion Ties With MIT in 8th Place for Producing Nobel Prizewinners

December 10th marks the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death and also gives us the new round of the Nobel Prize winners. https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel-prize-award-ceremonies/

With 4 Technion alumni and faculty taking home Nobel Prizes in the past 15 years, Technion places 8th, in a tie with MIT, for producing the most winners this century!

Avram Hershko & Aaron Ciechanover, 2004, Chemistry

Technion’s winners have all won for major advancements in Chemistry, starting in 2004 with Technion professor Avram Hershko and Technion graduate/professor Aaron Ciechanover. The pair, along with their American partner, discovered “ubiquitin-mediated protein degradation”.

What is ubiquitin-mediated protein degradation? It’s a bit of a mouthful, but this video will break it down for you. 

They proudly hold a special place in Technion’s history as the first Technion affiliates to win the Nobel Prize.

Dan Shechtman, 2011, Chemistry

7 years later, in 2011, Dan Shechtman brought Technion into the Nobel Prize light again, for the discovery of quasicrystals. A great success story, given his research was rejected and disapproved by his peers for years.  Today Dan Shechtman is currently a Philip Tobias professor of Material Science at Technion! https://www.reuters.com/article/us-nobel-chemistry/corrected-ridiculed-crystal-work-wins-nobel-for-israeli-idUSTRE7941EP20111006

Wondering what quasicrystals are? Look no further! https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/quasicrystals-win-chemistry-nobel

Arieh Warshel, 2013, Chemistry

The third Nobel Prize for Technion came in 2013 when Technion graduate, Arieh Warshel and his two colleagues were recognized for the development of multiscale models for complex chemical systems. This trio’s discovery made this all possible. https://scientificgems.wordpress.com/2013/10/10/the-chemistry-nobel-gives-hope-to-all-simulation-scientists/

The excitement of Nobel Prize awards is a legitimate one. The great effort and lengths scientists have gone through to prove their hypotheses and stand by their results has earned them an award well deserved!  In acknowledgement of their grandeur in the field of chemistry, Technion invites students from other countries to learn from these masters with their study abroad program.

While we await to hear what new discoveries will be announced as winners this year, we leave you with an article on peace and entrepreneurship. A concept Dan Shechtman talks about in an article by Forbes contributor, Ricardo Geromel: https://www.forbes.com/sites/ricardogeromel/2012/04/27/israeli-nobel-prize-winner-entrepreneurship-is-the-only-way-to-maintain-peace/#30c935235328