2017 Nobel Laureate..

The Nobel Prize is a set of annual international awards bestowed in several categories by Swedish and
Norwegian institutions in recognition of academic, cultural or scientific advances. The Nobel Prizes
are widely regarded as the most prestigious awards given for intellectual achievement in the
world. The Nobel Prize amount for 2017 is set at Swedish kronor (SEK) 9.0 million($1.1 m) per full
Nobel Prize.

Categories:
| Physics | Chemistry | Physiology or Medicine | Literature | Peace | Economic Sciences |

Physics

Recognition For - for decisive contributions to the LIGO(Laser Interferometer

Gravitational-Wave Observatory) detector and the observation of gravitational waves

Winners & Prize Share

Rainer Weiss Barry Barish Kip Thorne

American-German physicist American physicist American theoretical physicist
Prize Share: 1/2 Prize Share: 1/4 Prize Share: 1/4

What did they discover?

They are receiving the prize for the discovery of the gravitational waves released by
violent events in the universe such as the mergers of black holes. The first time this
was detected was on September 14, 2015, by the LIGO-VIRGO collaboration. Since
then three more detections have been made, the latest one on September 28, 2017
 Chemistry

Recognition For - for developing cryo-electron microscopy for the high-resolution

structure determination of biomolecules in solution

Winners & Prize Share:

Jacques Joachim Richard

Dubochet Frank Henderson
Swiss biophysicis Biophysicist Molecular biologist
Prize Share: 1/3 Prize Share: 1/3 Prize Share: 1/3

What is cryo-electron microscopy?

Cryo, short for cryogenic refers to very low temperatures. Though the actual temperature
is not well defined, it is below minus 150C. In the context of electron microscopy, it refers to
the fact that the object to be imaged is frozen to such low temperatures to facilitate being
studied under the beam of the electron microscope.
This method is so effective that even in recent times, it has been used to image the elusive
Zika virus: When researchers began to suspect that the Zika virus was causing the epidemic of
brain-damaged new-borns in Brazil, they turned to cryo-EM to visualise the virus. Over a few
months, three dimensional (3D) images of the virus at atomic resolution were generated and
researchers could start searching for potential targets for pharmaceuticals.
 Medicine/Physiology

Recognition For - for their discoveries of molecular mechanisms controlling the

circadian rhythm

Jeffrey C. Michael Michael W.

Hall Rosbash Young
American geneticist American geneticist American geneticist
Prize Share: 1/3 Prize Share: 1/3 Prize Share: 1/3

What did they discover?

The 2017 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Jeffrey C. Hall,
Michael Rosbash and Michael W. Young for their elucidation of the molecular
mechanisms controlling circadian rhythm. Their pioneering work in Drosophila
uncovered the internal oscillators, or clocks, that synchronise cellular
metabolism and organismal behaviour to the light/dark cycle to generate
biological rhythms with 24 hour periodicity.
 Literature
Recognition For - who, in novels of great emotional force, has uncovered the abyss
beneath our illusory sense of connection with the world

Kazuo Ishiguro
Novelist
Prize Share: 1/1

Ishiguro made his name with stories set in postwar Japan a nation
recollected in tranquillity, memories. His language follows the British tradition
of understatement, though he has developed his own unique style within it,
which hints very effectively at heightened emotion
 Peace

Recognition For - for its work to draw attention to the catastrophic humanitarian
consequences of any use of nuclear weapons and for its ground-breaking efforts to
achieve a treaty-based prohibition of such weapons.

International Campaign to Abolish

Nuclear Weapons (ICAN)
Non-profit international campaign
Prize Share: 1/1

So what is the ICAN?

The organisation, a coalition of NGOs from almost 100 countries, has been
tirelessly working on a global campaign to mobilise people to inspire, persuade
and pressure their governments to initiate and support negotiations for a treaty
banning nuclear weapons. The Nobel Committee in a statement said ICANs
ground-breaking efforts to achieve such a treaty was significant since it
helped in filling a legal gap.
 Economic Sciences

Recognition For - for his contributions to behavioural economics

Richard
Thaler
American economist
Prize Share: 1/1

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences described Thaler as a pioneer of

behavioural economics, which had progressed in recent years from a fringe and
somewhat controversial field of research into a mainstream component of the
economics profession.
His research was praised for incorporating psychological assumptions into
analyses of economic decision-making. The prize-givers said his work had shown
how the limitations of an individuals knowledge in the decision-making process,
as well as the consequences of social preferences and a lack of self control, can
affect peoples decisions as well as market outcomes.