Nobel Laureates at TU Dresden
Table of contents
Nobel Laureate Series 2026
12 May 2026: Duncan Haldane
20216 Nobel Prize in Physics "for theoretical discoveries of topological phase transitions and topological phases of matter”"
Public talk: Quantum Entanglement, Topological quantum states, and the “Second Quantum Revolution”
Tuesday, 12 May 2026, 7 pm
Audimax, TU Dresden (admission is free)
Duncan Haldane, born on September 14, 1951, in London, is a British physicist known for his work in theoretical condensed matter physics. He studied at the University of Cambridge, where he earned his bachelor's degree in 1973 and completed his PhD in 1978. Between 1977 and 1981, he worked at the Institut Laue-Langevin, followed by a position as Assistant Professor at the University of Southern California from 1981 to 1985. He then spent two years at Bell Laboratories before becoming a professor at the University of California, San Diego, in 1987. In 1990, he joined Princeton University, where he holds the position of Eugene Higgins Professor of Physics. In 2016, Haldane was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics, together with David J. Thouless and J. Michael Kosterlitz, "for theoretical discoveries of topological phase transitions and topological phases of matter”
Quantum Entanglement, Topological quantum states, and the “Second Quantum Revolution”
Modern quantum mechanics is 100 years old, but has continued to deliver surprises. While the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle was central to the “first quantum revolution”, in recent years the strange property of quantum entanglement has come to be recognized as the key feature of quantum mechanics, and is at the heart of recent attempts to create new quantum technologies for information processing and high-precision sensors, that some call a “second quantum revolution”. Among the surprises are “topological quantum states of matter”, that may allow “topologically-protected” processing of quantum information, stored as entanglement patterns.
17 June 2026: Georg Bednorz
Nobel Prize in Physics 1987 "for the discovery of high-temperature superconductors"
Public talk: Supraleitung – vom Phänomen zur Schlüsseltechnologie des 21. Jahrhunderts (talk in German language)
Wednesday, 17 June 2026, 7 pm
Audimax, TU Dresden (Admission is free)
Georg Bednorz, born in 1950, began studying chemistry at the University of Münster in 1968, but soon switched to mineralogy and specialised in crystallography, particularly perovskite compounds. Even whilst still a student, he worked on several occasions at the IBM Zurich Research Laboratory, where he later completed his PhD (1977–1982) and subsequently worked as a researcher. From 1983, he conducted research together with Karl Alexander Müller into high-temperature superconductivity in ceramic copper oxides – an unconventional approach at the time. In 1986, they achieved a breakthrough by demonstrating superconductivity at a comparatively high temperature of 35 Kelvin. For this groundbreaking discovery, Bednorz and Müller were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics as early as 1987. This marked the shortest time span between a discovery and the awarding of a Nobel Prize.
Superconductivity – from a phenomenon to a key technology of the 21st century
Shortly after the discovery of superconductivity a century ago, ambitious plans for large-scale industrial applications were developed. However, low transition temperatures, low critical currents and high sensitivity to magnetic fields proved to be insurmountable obstacles. Superconductivity thus remained a scientific curiosity for decades, until the late 1970s, when new intermetallic superconductors opened up the possibility of developing powerful magnets for solid-state research and medical instruments. Yet even after decades of searching for materials with higher critical temperatures, superconductivity remained a low-temperature phenomenon. A paradigm shift in the research strategy for new materials, in which oxides were used instead of metals, led to the discovery of high-temperature superconductivity in a new class of materials and gave the field of research new impetus. Following the discovery, decades of research into the development of these new superconductors led to high-performance materials that today form the basis of the superconducting industry. With its compelling advantages in the generation, transmission and distribution of electrical energy, as well as in efficient industrial processes, superconducting technology has the potential to shape the entire energy sector. Here, it can make a significant contribution to the transition to a fully electric society in order to combat the environmental problems associated with climate change.
Nobel Laureate series 2025
Venkatraman (Venki) Ramakrishnan
Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2009 "for studies of the structure and function of the ribosome"
Public lecture: Why We Die: The New Science of Aging and the Quest for Immortality
Tuesday, 21 October 2025, 7 pm
Audimax, TU Dresden
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About Venki Ramakrishnan:
Venki Ramakrishnan received his bachelor’s degree in physics from Baroda University in India in 1971 and his Ph.D. in physics from Ohio University in 1976. He then studied biology for two years at the University of California, San Diego before beginning his postdoctoral work with Peter Moore at Yale University. After a long career in the USA at Brookhaven National Laboratory and the University of Utah, he moved to England in 1999, where he has been a group leader at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge. He received the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 2009 and was the president of the Royal Society from 2015-2020.
In 2000, Ramakrishnan’s laboratory determined the atomic structure of the 30S ribosomal subunit and its complexes with ligands and antibiotics. This work led to insights into how the ribosome “reads” the genetic code, as well as antibiotic function. Ramakrishnan’s lab subsequently determined high-resolution structures of functional complexes of the entire ribosome at various stages along the translational pathway, which led to insights into its role in protein synthesis during decoding, peptidyl transfer, translocation and termination. For the last decade, his laboratory has been applying cryoelectron microscopy to study eukaryotic and mitochondrial translation, especially initiation of translation and translational regulation.
Ramakrishnan is the author of two popular books, Gene Machine (2018), a very frank popular memoir about the race for the structure of the ribosome, and more recently, Why We Die: The New Science of Aging and the Quest for Immortality (2024).
Public lecture: Why We Die: The New Science of Aging and the Quest for Immortality
The knowledge of aging and death has driven human culture, including our religions, ever since we became aware of our mortality. For much of our existence there was not much we could do about it, but over the past few decades, biology has made major advances in our understanding of the causes of aging, thus for the first time opening up the possibility of intervening in the process. At the same time, the combination of longer lives and reduced fertility rates means that many societies are faced with an aging population. This has led to a large amount of investment in aging research from governments as well as private industry funded largely by tech billionaires, and led to a both real advances and a large amount of hype. In this talk I will discuss some of the key findings about why and how we age and die and prospects for the future. I will also talk a bit about the possible consequences of societies with extremely long-lived populations.
Contact
© Nicole Gierig
Public Relations Advisor
NameNicole Gierig M.A.
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