Nobel Laureate speaker series 2023

Benjamin List

Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2021
Public lecture: Katalyse für die Welt (lecture held in German, "Catalysis for the world")
Wednesday, 03 May 2023, 7 p.m.
Audimax, TU Dresden

© Henning Kretschmer

Benjamin List was born in Frankfurt am Main in 1968. He studied chemistry at the Free University of Berlin and received his PhD from the Goethe University in Frankfurt (1997, Prof. G. Mulzer). He worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla/United States from 1997 to 1998 and as an assistant professor from 1999 to 2003. In 2003, he moved to the Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung in Mülheim/Ruhr as head of a research group and became one of the directors there in 2005. He still holds this position today. He also heads a research group at Hokkaido University in Japan and is an honorary professor at the University of Cologne. List has been awarded dozens of prestigious prizes in the field of chemistry. In 2021, he received the Nobel Prize for his work on asymmetric organocatalysis. Benjamin List lives in Mülheim Ruhr, he is married and father of two grown-up sons.

Katalyse für die Welt (Catalysis for the world)
With his research group at the Max-Planck-Insitut für Kohlenforschung, Chemistry Nobel Prize Laurates Benjamin List aims towards the invention of new strategies for the development of “perfect chemical reactions”. For him, the science of catalysis is truly fascinating. To design a catalyst – by providing a lower energy pathway to convert substrates into the desired product – is as close as chemists can ever come to magic. Providing this lower energy pathway without being used up enables us to use a very small amount of a catalyst to convert large amounts of starting materials into a useful product. And there is so much more to it. Catalysis is not only a beautiful concept; it is a very important technology. Some would state that it is the most important technology for humankind on this planet. It is estimated that catalysis contributes to roughly one third of the GDP – which means figures in the trillions. There is probably no other technology that can claim to feed, to heal, to warm and to transport humans and their goods. The challenges humanity faces right now – global warming, energy conversion – will be addressed with the help of catalysis. In his talk, Benjamin List will speak about the catalysis with organic molecules and how strong and confined acids could become universal catalysts.

Benjamin List

Donna Strickland

Wednesday, 8 February 2023, 7pm
Audimax, TU Dresden
Public lecture: Generating High-Intensity, Ultrashort Optical Pulses

© www.oneforthewall.ca

Donna Strickland
*27 May 1959, Guelph, Ontario, Canada University of Waterloo
Nobel Prize in Physics 2018

In 2018, Donna Strickland became the third woman ever, after the German-American Maria Goeppert-Mayer and Marie Curie, to be honored with the Nobel Prize in Physics. In 1985, as a doctoral student at the University of Rochester, Strickland and her supervisor, Gérard Mourou, developed a method for generating ultrashort laser pulses: the so-called chirped pulse amplification (CPA). The process is now used worldwide - for example in laser eye surgery. Donna Strickland published her first research article in her research career on this groundbreaking invention in the field of laser physics and was honored for it with the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physics together with Gérard Mourou and Arthur Ashkin.

In 1997, she joined the University of Waterloo, where her ultrafast laser group develops high-intensity laser systems for nonlinear optics investigations. She was named a 2021 Hagler Fellow of Texas A&M University and sits on the Growth Technology Advisory Board of Applied Materials. Strickland served as the president of the Optica (formerly OSA) in 2013 and is a fellow of Optica, SPIE, the Royal Society of Canada and the Royal Society. She is an honorary fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering and the Institute of Physics, an international member of the US National Academy of Science and member of the Pontifical Academy of Science. Strickland was named a Companion of the Order of Canada.

Donna Strickland 8 February 2023

We would especially like to thank our partners for supporting the lecture series:

Novaled GmbH, Tecan, Hotel Taschenbergpalais Kempinski Dresden, Gesellschaft von Freunden und Förderern der TU Dresden and  Steigenberger Hotel de Saxe Dresden.

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Photo gallery Nobel Laureates at TU Dresden 2016-2022

Nobel lectures at TU Dresden 2016-2019

© Robert Lohse

Edvard Moser at TU Dresden on 13 April 2016

The Norwegian neuroscientist Edvard Moser was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2014 together with his wife May-Britt Moser and the British-American neurologist John O’Keefe for the research of the brain’s positioning system. Learn more

© Robert Lohse

Edvard Moser at TU Dresden on 13 April 2016

In his lecture "The GPS of the brain: Grid cells and the neural map of space", Moser spoke about the discovery of so-called grid cells, which, in joint action with other cells, form the “GPS system” in our brain.

© Robert Lohse

Shuji Nakamura at TU Dresden on 11 May 2016

The Japanese-born American material scientist Shuji Nakamura was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics 2014 together with the Japanese researchers Isamu Akasaki and Hiroshi Amano for the development of blue light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Learn more

© Robert Lohse

Shuji Nakamura at TU Dresden on 11 May 2016

In his lecture "Invention of blue LED and future solid state lighting", Nakamura spoke about how he, Akasaki and Amano achieved a breakthrough in developping the first blue LED. The development of blue LEDs was the prerequisite for the production of white light using the combination of red, green and blue LEDs and thus, the basis for efficient, energy-saving light sources.

© Robert Lohse

Stefan Hell at TU Dresden on 22 June 2016

Stefan Hell was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2014 "for the development of super-resolved fluorescence microscopy". He shares the prize with his American colleagues Eric Betzig and William E. Moerner. The German physicist Hell has succeeded in exceeding the limitations of optical microscopy and thus, in laying foundations for optical nanoscopy. Learn more

© Robert Lohse

Stefan Hell at TU Dresden on 22 June 2016

In his lecture, Hell talked about the development of the so-called “Stimulated Emission Depletion” (STED-) microscopy, which uses fluorescence to make nanoscale biological structures visible by chemical processes.

© Robert Lohse

Gerhard Ertl at TU Dresden on 6 July 2016

The German physicist and chemist Gerhard Ertl was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2007 “for his studies of chemical processes on solid surfaces”. With his work, Gerhard Ertl, the Emeritus director of the Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society in Berlin, created the basis for the understanding of industrial catalysts and catalytic processes. Learn more

© Robert Lohse

Gerhard Ertl at TU Dresden on 6 July 2016

In his lecture "Catalysis on surfaces: Engine of chemical transformations", Ertl also reported on how his research findings are still widely employed, such as in the production of chemical fertilizers, efficient catalytic converters or in the investigations of climate phenomena.

© Sven Döring

Sir John B. Gurdon at TU Dresden on 26 April 2017

The British developmental biologist Sir John B. Gurdon was awarded the 2012 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for the discovery that mature cells can be reprogrammed to become pluripotent. Learn more

© Sven Döring

Sir John B. Gurdon at TU Dresden on 26 April 2017

In his talk "Somatic cell nuclear transfer: memory of the past versus hope for the future", Gurdon spoke about his pioneering study in which he found the prove that the mature cell, just as embryonic stem cells, still contain the genetic information needed to form all types of cells.

© Sven Döring

Paul Modrich at TU Dresden on 16 May 2017

Biochemist Paul Modrich was awarded the 2015 Nobel Prize in Chemistry along with Tomas Lindahl and Aziz Sancar "for mechanistic studies of DNA repair." Learn more

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Paul Modrich at TU Dresden on 16 May 2017

In his lecture "Mechanisms in DNA mismatch repair", Modrich told how he has worked over decades on the idea of decoding the repair mechanism in the DNA code. Just as with all cell mechanisms, chromosome replication is not free from mistakes, misspellings in the genetic code are constantly happening. In 1989, Modrich succeeded in identifying the mismatch repair system (MMR) in cells.

© Sven Döring

Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard at TU Dresden on 7 June 2017

Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard is a German developmental biologist and geneticist. She was the first German woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1995 for the discovery concerning the genetic control of early embryonic development. She shares the prize with her colleague Eric F. Wieschaus and the US-American geneticist Edward B. Lewis. Learn more

© Sven Döring

Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard at TU Dresden on 7 June 2017

Fish have particularly beautiful and diverse color patterns, which are created by the mosaic-like distribution of differently colored pigment cells. In her lecture "The stripes of the zebrafish: Why and how does beauty arise in animals?", Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard talked about how these patterns are formed and which genes are responsible for the diversity and evolution of color patterns.

© Sven Döring

Arthur McDonald at TU Dresden on 28 June 2017

The Canadian particle physicist Arthur B. McDonald was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics 2015 together with Takaaki Kajita from Japan. Both researchers succeeded in proving that neutrinos have mass, a fact contradictory to the Standard Model of Elementary Particle Physics. Learn more

© Sven Döring

Arthur McDonald at TU Dresden on 28 June 2017

In his lecture "A Deeper Understanding of our Universe from 2 km Underground", McDonald took the Dresden public in his underground lab, where is team in 2001 succeeded in proving that neutrinos have a mass - a break-through in neutrino research and in our understanding of the universe.

© Robert Lohse

Klaus von Klitzing at TU Dresden on 11 April 2018

Klaus von Klitzing was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1985 for the discovery of the quantum Hall effect. This states that at low temperatures and strong magnetic fields, a Hall voltage occurs in a current-carrying semiconductor structure that changes in steps - according to what is now known as the "von Klitzing constant". Learn more

© Robert Lohse

Klaus von Klitzing at TU Dresden on 11 April 2018

In his lecture "A new kilogram next year and what it has to do with my Nobel Prize", von Klitzing explained how the International System of Units is to be revolutionised with the help of natural constants. Until now, the unit "kilogramme" was defined by a material prototype - the original kilogramme - which becomes smaller and smaller over time despite elaborate mechanical protection devices.

© Sven Döring

Ben Feringa at TU Dresden on 18 April 2018

Ben Feringa was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2016, together with Jean-Pierre Sauvage and Fraser Stoddart, for "the design and synthesis of molecular machines". Learn more

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Ben Feringa at TU Dresden on 18 April 2018

In his lecture "The Art of Building Small", Feringa explained how motors can be made from molecules. In 1999, he and his team built the first light-powered micro-car from a few molecules. The molecular motors can be used in the human body, for example in the construction of muscle elements or micromachines - as well as a means of transport for medicine.

© Sven Döring

Serge Haroche at TU Dresden on 27 June 2018

Die Untersuchung von Lichtteilchen brachte Serge Haroche 2012 den Nobelpreis für Physik ein: Ihm gelang es, ein Photon in eine Kiste zu sperren, um quantenmechanische Auswirkungen bei der Kollision von Licht und Materie zu untersuchen. Learn more

© Sven Döring

Serge Haroche at TU Dresden on 27 June 2018

In his lecture "Juggling with atoms and photons in cavity: from fundamental tests to quantum metrology", the French quantum physicist spoke about colliding light and matter particles.

© Michael Schmidt

Ada E. Yonath at TU Dresden on 24 April 2019

For more than 15 years, Ada E. Yonath pursued the vision of deciphering the riddle of ribosomes and thus understanding the fundamental process of protein formation in the human body. In early 2000, the then 61-year-old finally achieved the breakthrough for which she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2009 - making her only the fourth woman to receive this award at the time. Learn more

© Michael Schmidt

Ada E. Yonath at TU Dresden on 24 April 2019

In her lecture "Ribosomes: A Connection Between The Far Past & Near Future", the Israeli biologist spoke about her scientific achievements in the crystallisation and X-ray structure analysis of ribosomes, which earned her the Nobel Prize, and also about their importance for the development of novel antibiotics.

© Michael Schmidt

Thomas Südhof zu Gast am 26. April 2019

Since the 1980s, Thomas Südhof has been working on the question of how brain cells communicate with each other. In 2013, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine together with Randy W. Schekman and James E. Rothman for his discoveries of mechanisms regulating vesicular traffic. His research results are the basis for therapies against Alzheimer's disease, for example. Learn more

© Michael Schmidt

Thomas Südhof at TU Dresden on 26 April 2019

In his lecture "How Synapses Are Made", Südhof took the audience on a journey to one of the most important transport systems of our cells, the synapses.

© Sven Döring

Michael Kosterlitz at TU Dresden on 15 May 2019

Michael Kosterlitz received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2016 together with David J. Thouless and F. Duncan M. Haldane for research on the theory of various topological phases of matter. The pioneering work of the three Nobel Prize laureates marked the beginning of the success story of topology in its application to physical problems. Learn more

© Sven Döring

Michael Kosterlitz at TU Dresden on 15 May 2019

In his lecture "Random Walk Through Physics To The Nobel Prize", Kosterlitz not only told of his scientific successes, but also of his great passion: climbing. A climbing crevice in the Italian Alps was even named after him: the "Fessura Kosterlitz".

© Sven Döring

Takaaki Kajita at TU Dresden on 3 July

The Japanese physicist Takaaki Kajita,is known for neutrino experiments at the Kamioka Observatory – Kamiokande and its successor, Super-Kamiokande. In 2015, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics jointly with Canadian physicist Arthur B. McDonald “for the discovery of neutrino oscillations, which shows that neutrinos have mass”. Learn more

© Sven Döring

Takaaki Kajita at TU Dresden on 3 July

In his lecture "Oscillating Neutrinos", Kajita talked about how he was able to detect the mass of neutrinos, the so-called "ghost particles", in a zinc mine 1,000m underground, a result that shook the standard model of elementary particle physics.

© Sven Döring

Sir Andre Geim at TU Dresden on 8 June 2022

For the discovery of the "miracle materials" graphene, Andre Geim was awarded the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics together with his colleague Konstantin Novoselov. Learn more

© Sven Döring

Sir Andre Geim at TU Dresden on 8 June 2022

"A Random Walk to Graphene" was the title of his lecture, during which Geim revealed much about his scientific curiosity to the Dresden public. For his experiments on diamagnetic levitation, which produced the so-called "levitating frog", he was awarded the Ig Nobel Prize of the year 2000, making him the only person to be both a Nobel and Ig Nobel Prize winner.

© Sven Döring

Sir Gregory Winter at TU Dresden on 22 June 2022

Gregory Winter is a British molecular biologist who in 2018, together with George P. Smith, received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the development of phage display of peptides and antibodies. Winter used this technique to develop antibody drugs on a purely human basis for the first time, which can be used to target specific diseases. Learn more

© Sven Döring

Sir Gregory Winter at TU Dresden on 22 June 2022

In his lecture "Harnessing evolution to make new medicines," Sir Gregory explained how he harnessed the principles of evolution to develop targeted antibodies against specific diseases. Winter founded numerous companies that market his antibody drugs, currently Bicycle Therapeutics.