Five Nobel Prize winners in Physics and Chemistry will meet this Monday with scientists and students from the University of Valencia

Five Nobel Prize winners will visit the University of Valencia this Monday 5 June to participate in various discussions and conferences, an action promoted by the Rey Jaime I Awards Foundation. Jean-Marie Pierre Lehn (Chemistry, 1987), Jean Pierre Sauvage (Chemistry, 2016), Von Klitzing (Physics, 1985), Anton Zeilinger (Physics, 2022) y Ben Feringa (Chemistry, 2016) will be hosted by the Institute of Molecular Science (ICMol, Spanish abbreviation), the Institute of Corpuscular Physics (IFIC, Spanish abbreviation) and the Inter-University Institute for Molecular Recognition Research and Technological Development (IDM, Spanish abbreviation).

The meeting between two of the three Nobel Prize winners in Chemistry --Lehn and Sauvage-- will be held in the Marie Curie Auditorium at the Parc Científic (Scientific Park) with an audience made up of students and researches in the discipline. The event is organized by theInstitute of Molecular Science, a University of Valencia research centre accredited with the ‘Unidad de Excelencia María de Maeztu’ (‘María de Maeztu Award for Excellence’) that focuses its research on the molecular aspects of nanoscience. The event begins at 10:30am.

At the same time, in the Graduate Hall of the Technical School of Engineering (ETSE, Spanish abbreviation), physicists Von Klitzing and Anton Seilinger, winners of the 1985 and 2022 Nobel Prizes in Physics, will begin their visit at theInstitute of Corpuscular Physics. This joint centre of the University of Valencia and the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (Higher Council for Scientific Research) is dedicated to research in Nuclear Physics, Particles and Astroparticles and their applications both in medical physics and in other fields of science and technology. After the visit, a meeting will be held, round-table style, with the two scientists and a group of doctoral students.

Lastly, Bern Feringa will meet with students and researchers convened by theInter-University Institute for Molecular Recognition Research and Technological Development, a joint centre of the University of Valencia (UV) and the Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV) dedicated to research, teaching and the transfer of knowledge in different aspects of human health, safety, food and the environment. The Dutch scientist will give a talk entitled The Art of Building Small, Molecular Switches and Motors.It will begin at 10:30am in the assembly hall of the Technical School of Industrial Engineering at the UPV.

The Nobel Prize winners’ visit to Valencia takes place within the framework of the Rey Jaime I Awards in order to promote research, scientific development and entrepreneurship in Spain, which are awarded by the Rey Jaime I Awards Foundation and whose jury includes numerous Nobel Prize winners (21 in this year’s edition).

During the days of the jury’s meeting in Valencia, which takes place each June, the Nobel Prize winners will participate in various activities --discussions, chats and visits-- organised by the research centres and other organisations in the Valencian Region. After the jury’s deliberation, there will be a ceremony to announce the winners at the Palau de la Generalitat (Palace of the Regional Government).

Jean-Marie Pierre Lehn(Rosheim, France, 1939. Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1987). and his work have contributed in particular to the development of supramolecular chemistry. Lehn’s research led him in1968 to the creation of a molecule capable of combining with the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, the chemical transmitter of the signals in the nervous system. He also developed a terminology that would become accepted in the nomenclature of organic chemistry--the cavities within molecules he called crypts. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, together with Charles J. Pedersen and Donald J. Cram, for the development and use of molecules that interact with high selectivity.

Jean Pierre Sauvage, (París, France, 1944. Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2016) is one of the pioneers in supramolecular chemistry. In 1983, he published the first efficient synthesis of mechanically interlocked molecules consisting of interlocked macrocycles known as “catenanes.” These molecules were the basis of one of the first molecular machines in which the movement of the catenane rings was controlled by electrochemical and photochemical means. One of the rings rotated around the loop created by the other, in a way that could be controlled. He had just built the first ever nano-sized wheel. In 2016 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, together with Bernard Feringa and Fraser Stoddard, for the design and synthesis of molecular machines.

Klaus Von Klitzing(Schroda-Rosen, Germany, 1943.Nobel Prize in Physics 1985)was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for his discovery of the “Quantum Hall Effect”, which is used as a worldwide reference to find the unit of electrical resistance ohm (Ω), a key element in industrial and household power measurements, among other applications.Since 1990, his discovery has been used around the world to perform resistor calibrations. This was the first major application in metrology--the science of measurement.

Anton Zeilinger(Ried im Innkreis,Austria,1945.Nobel Prize in Physics 2022) is atheoreticalandexperimentalphysicist, currently the president of theAustrian Academy of Science​, who was awarded theNobel Prize in Physicstogether withAlain AspectandJohn Clauserfor their experiments with interlacedphotons.His research created the basis for the rapid development of new applications in computing and cryptography.

Bernar Lucas Feringa, more commonly known as Ben Feringa (Barger-Compascuum, Holland, 1951. Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2016) is an organic chemist from the Netherlands, specialized in molecular nanotechnology and homogeneous catalysis. He is a university professor of molecular physics at the Chemistry Institute of the Groningen University and an academic and president of the Council of the Science Division of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 2016, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, together with Jean -Pierre Sauvage and Fraser Stoddart, for the design and synthesis of molecular machines.

More information:

• Jaime I Awards