Nobel Prize Laureates

During the last century, more than 40 Nobel Prize Laureates have lived and worked in Göttingen. Erwin Neher (Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1991 for discoveries regarding the function of individual ion channels in cells) is one of the founder members of the IMPRS for Molecular Biology and Neurosciences and served on numerous PhD thesis advisory committees in both programs. Stefan Hell (Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 2014 pioneering work on ultra-high resolution fluorescence microscopy), is a faculty member of the IMPRS for Molecular Biology and Neurosciences. In the past few years, Stefan Hell’s group developed the minimal photon fluxes (MINFLUX) concept, which pushed the resolution of fluorescence microscopy to molecular dimensions.

Other illustrious names include Adolf Windaus, discoverer of vitamin D, Otto Hahn, a nuclear scientist, and Max Born, one of the founders of quantum theory. Many buildings in Göttingen display plaques commemorating their famous former residents.

To view the individual profiles of selected Nobel prize laureates, please visit the following webpage of the University of Göttingen.

On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Nobel Prize in 2003, an exhibition at the Paulinerkirche in Göttingen, entitled "Das Göttinger Nobelpreiswunder" (the Göttingen Nobel Prize Wonder) honored Alfred Nobel and the achievements of the Nobel Prize Laureates with a special emphasis on the 44 scientists who had an affiliation with Göttingen. Selected topics of this exhibition are documented on the following website (in German).