Alfred Nobel and the Nobel Prizes

Nils Martensson is a professor of physics at Uppsala University. His research is directed towards surface science and condensed matter physics with main focus on X-ray based spectroscopies. For more than a decade he was the director of MAX-lab and the MAX IV synchrotron radiation laboratory in Lund. He is a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. He has been a member of the Nobel Committee for Physics and was it chairman 2016 and 2017. Among other awards he received this year the Helmholtz International Fellow Award.

The Nobel Prizes are among the most prestigious awards in the world. The Prizes in physics, chemistry, medicine or physiology and literature are awarded in Stockholm, while the Peace Prize is awarded in Oslo. This talk will focus on the private life of Alfred Nobel, as well as his life as a scientist, inventor, entrepreneur and global industrial magnate. Nobel, who was fluent in five languages, was also a humanist and he developed a passionate interest in peace issues. In spite of many difficulties, Nobel´s fortune could be brought back to Sweden, which made it possible to establish the prizes according to his will. I will also describe the work in the academy and the Nobel committee connected to the selection of Nobel laureates in Physics.

Diskussionsleitung: Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Eberhardt, Wiss. Leiter Magnus-Haus Berlin

Diese Veranstaltung wird gefördert durch die Wilhelm und Else Heraeus-Stiftung.