As the various awards of the 2024 Nobel Prizes have been successively announced, the laureates in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, peace, and economics have all been revealed.
As the world's most prestigious award, the Nobel Prize has always been the highest honor in the hearts of scientists and scholars. The world's top universities are continuously striving to cultivate more Nobel laureates, driving intense competition in academia.
Today, CheersYou（清柚教育） will take you into the world of the 2024 Nobel Prizes, getting to know the laureates and the academic institutions behind them.
Economics Prize: How Institutions Shape a Nation's Economic Destiny
Laureates:
Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson & James A. Robinson
The 2024 Nobel Prize in Economics was awarded to three US-based economists, Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson, and James A. Robinson, for their outstanding contributions to the study of how institutions are formed and affect economic prosperity.
Daron Acemoglu earned his master's and doctoral degrees from the London School of Economics in 1992 and currently serves as Professor of Applied Economics at MIT.
Simon Johnson received his PhD from MIT in 1989. He is also currently at MIT, serving as the Ronald A. Kurtz Professor of Entrepreneurship at the Sloan School of Management. He previously served as Chief Economist of the International Monetary Fund.
James A. Robinson earned his PhD from Yale University in 1993 and is currently a professor at the University of Chicago.
Physiology or Medicine Prize: Discovery of mRNA and Its Regulatory Role
Laureates:
Victor Ambros & Gary Ruvkun
The 2024 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun for their discovery of mRNA and its critical role in gene regulation.
Victor Ambros received his PhD from MIT in 1979 and is currently a professor at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.
Gary Ruvkun earned his PhD from Harvard University in 1982 and is now a molecular biologist at Massachusetts General Hospital and a professor at Harvard Medical School.
Their research has had a profound impact on gene regulation and disease treatment.
Physics Prize: Artificial Neural Networks Paved the Way for Machine Learning
Laureates:
John J. Hopfield & Geoffrey E. Hinton
The 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to John J. Hopfield and Geoffrey E. Hinton for foundational discoveries and inventions that enable machine learning through artificial neural networks.
American scientist John J. Hopfield received his PhD from Cornell University in 1958. In 1982, he invented the Hopfield neural network and is currently Professor Emeritus at Princeton University.
British-born Canadian computer scientist and psychologist Geoffrey E. Hinton earned his PhD from the University of Edinburgh in 1978. He is currently Professor Emeritus at the University of Toronto and serves as Chief Scientific Advisor at the Vector Institute in Toronto, one of Canada's three national AI research institutions.
Chemistry Prize: Protein Design and Structure Prediction
Laureates:
David Baker, Demis Hassabis & John M. Jumper
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded jointly to David Baker, Demis Hassabis, and John M. Jumper. The prize recognized David Baker for his contributions to computational protein design, and Demis Hassabis and John M. Jumper for their contributions to protein structure prediction.
David Baker received his PhD from the University of California, Berkeley in 1989 and is currently a professor at the University of Washington, focusing on research in protein structure prediction and design.
Demis Hassabis earned his PhD from University College London in 2009 and is the co-founder and CEO of DeepMind, dedicated to using artificial intelligence for protein structure prediction.
John M. Jumper obtained his PhD from the University of Chicago in 2017 and is a senior research scientist at DeepMind, leading the AlphaFold project, which has greatly improved the accuracy of protein structure prediction.
Literature Prize: Revealing the Fragility of Human Life
Laureate:
Han Kang
The 2024 Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to South Korean author Han Kang for her intense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life.
Born in 1970, Han Kang currently teaches in the Department of Creative Writing at Seoul Institute of the Arts. She is not only the first South Korean author to win the Nobel Prize in Literature but also the first Asian woman to receive this honor. Moreover, since the Nobel Prize in Literature was first awarded in 1901, she is the 18th woman to receive this distinction.
Most of her works explore themes of violence, evil, desire, beauty, and redemption, presenting the repressed madness and scars within the human psyche through her narratives. Her most famous work is the novel The Vegetarian.
Peace Prize: Efforts Toward a Nuclear-Free World
Laureate:
Nihon Hidankyo
Nihon Hidankyo
This year's Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Nihon Hidankyo, the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations. Founded in 1956, it is a grassroots organization representing the survivors of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, known as Hibakusha.
The organization works tirelessly to promote the abolition of nuclear weapons and, through the testimonies of survivors, reveals the devastating consequences of these weapons. Nihon Hidankyo has played a significant role in the global nuclear disarmament movement, actively advocating for world peace and nuclear disarmament.
The curtains have closed on the 2024 Nobel Prizes, and the United States has once again demonstrated its strong ability to cultivate Nobel laureates, maintaining its leading position globally. The top American universities have thus once again become the focus of global attention.
Now, as the Fall 2025 application season is in full swing, for those aiming to become alumni of Nobel laureates, every step in the application process is crucial.
We hope everyone succeeds in getting into their dream schools and heads towards a successful future!
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