Professor Moungi Bawendi wins 2023 Chemistry Nobel Prize
On Oct. 4, Moungi Bawendi, the Lester Wolfe Professor of Chemistry, was announced as a winner of the 2023 Chemistry Nobel Prize by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences for his work in “the discovery and synthesis of quantum dots.” Bawendi shared the prize with his postdoctoral advisor, Louis Brus of Columbia University, and Alexei Ekimov of Nanocrystals Technology.
According to the prize announcement, Bawendi “revoluntionised the chemical production of quantum dots, resulting in almost perfect particles.” Bawendi’s work with quantum dots has seen various applications from solar cells to surgery.
In a press conference held on Oct. 4, Bawendi was introduced by President Kornbluth who said that “we cannot imagine anything more electrifying.” She added “you’d be hard pressed to find a community with a greater reverence for the wondrous beauty of basic discovery science and the incredible power of innovation to better our world than the people of MIT.”
At the press conference, Bawendi stated that the future of quantum dot research is bright. “I think 30 years ago, none of us who started the field could have predicted 30 years later we’d be where we are today… innovation comes out in directions that you can’t predict.”