Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell, and Shimon Sakaguchi won the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries concerning peripheral immune tolerance.
US trio wins 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics for showing “quantum physics in action”
US based scientists John Clarke, Michel Devoret and John Martinis won the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics for experiments that proved quantum physics can control man made circuits, not just atoms.
Their work in the mid 1980s used tiny superconducting circuits to show quantum effects at a scale closer to everyday devices.
Clarke said he was “stunned” by the award, noting that modern tools like cell phones rely on ideas rooted in quantum mechanics.
The Nobel committee called it a reminder that a century old theory still delivers new surprises and powers today’s digital world.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said the research opens the door to the next wave of “quantum technology,” including stronger encryption, quantum sensors and quantum computers.
Such computers use quantum rules to tackle certain problems far faster than today’s machines.
Sometimes in tasks that would take classical computers millions of years, though major engineering hurdles remain before they become widely useful.
A week of announcements now follows
The medicine prize opened a tight schedule that runs through October thirteen.
Physics will be announced on Tuesday in Stockholm, chemistry on Wednesday in Stockholm. Similarly, literature on Thursday in Stockholm, the peace prize on Friday in Oslo, and the economics prize the following Monday in Stockholm.
This cadence concentrates attention on the scientific and cultural impact of the laureates while giving each field a clear moment in the spotlight.
The Nobel Prize is a legacy of Alfred Nobel
The prizes trace their origin to the 1895 will of Alfred Nobel, which established awards for physics, chemistry, medicine, literature and peace. While Sweden’s central bank added the economics prize in 1968.
Different institutions select winners, including the Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet for medicine, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences for physics. In addition, chemistry and economics, the Swedish Academy for literature, and the Norwegian Nobel Committee for peace.
Each laureate receives a medal, a diploma, and eleven million Swedish kronor, and the awards are presented on December ten, the anniversary of Nobel’s death.
Nominations are secret, and deadlines matter
Meanwhile, the nomination process is designed for independence.
Committees invite qualified nominators and accept submissions until the end of January, and deliberations remain sealed for fifty years.
Self nomination is not permitted, but candidates can be nominated multiple times by others.
This year, high profile mentions that surfaced after the deadline, including nominations for Donald Trump, do not affect the 2025 shortlist, which was set months earlier.
The rule reinforces procedural integrity and prevents real time lobbying from shaping outcomes.
The peace prize draws interest and debate
Finally, the peace award is being watched closely because global conflicts have intensified scrutiny of who advances durable peace and international fraternity.
Although Trump has promoted his case publicly, independent analysts say his chances are slim under the committee’s long standing criteria.
At the same time, one of the prize awarding bodies has warned that political interference threatens academic freedom, adding a cautionary note to this year’s conversation.
Together, these factors frame a week in which scientific breakthroughs and moral leadership share the world stage.
