Nobel laureates

Professor Aghion, who is currently based at the London School of Economics, the College de France and INSEAD, was Professor of Economics at UCL from 1996-2002. He shares the prestigious award with Joel Mokyr (Northwestern University) and Peter Howitt (Brown University) "for having explained innovation-driven economic growth".  He is UCL's 33rd Nobel laureate. Find out more

Neuroscientist, entrepreneur and artificial intelligence pioneer Sir Demis Hassabis, a UCL alumnus who has retained close connections to the university, has been awarded the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Sir Demis completed a PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience at UCL in 2009 before continuing as a post-doc at the Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit at UCL (the unit’s founder was also awarded a Nobel Prize), and then went on to co-found a London-based machine learning AI startup, Google DeepMind. Find out more

Professor Geoffrey E. Hinton, who founded the Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit at UCL, has been awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for his pioneering work that enabled artificial intelligence used today. Professor Hinton, who was born in London in 1947, is sometimes known as the “Godfather of AI” for his work on artificial neural networks that paved the way for current AI systems such as ChatGPT. Find out more

Professor Sir Roger Penrose, who was an undergraduate at UCL, is among three scientists to have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for work relating to black holes -  “for the discovery of a supermassive compact object at the centre of our galaxy”. Sir Roger, born in 1931, graduated with a first-class Mathematics degree at UCL in 1952. He was made an Honorary Fellow of UCL in 1975, and is UCL's 30th Nobel laureate. Find out more

Professor John O’Keefe, Director of the Sainsbury Wellcome Centre for Neural Circuits & Behaviour at UCL, is awarded the 2014 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the discovery of cells that constitute a positioning system in the brain - an ‘inner GPS’ - that enables us to orient ourselves.

James Rothman shares the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Randy W. Schekman and Thomas C. Südhof “for their discoveries of machinery regulating vesicle traffic, a major transport system in our cells”. Professor Rothman is establishing a laboratory at UCL under the Yale-UCL collaboration.

Peter Higgs and François Englert win the Nobel Prize in Physics “for the theoretical discovery of a mechanism that contributes to our understanding of the origin of mass of subatomic particles, and which recently was confirmed through the discovery of the predicted fundamental particle, by the ATLAS and CMS experiments at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider”. Higgs studied at UCL before going on to become a lecturer in mathematics.

Charles Kao is a pioneer in the development and use of fibre optics in telecommunications and in 2009 is awarded the Nobel Prize for his "groundbreaking achievements concerning the transmission of light in fibres for optical communication". Kao, who is known as the 'Godfather of Broadband', received his PhD degree in electrical engineering in 1965 from UCL.

Sir Martin Evans wins the Nobel Prize for "discoveries of principles for introducing specific gene modifications in mice by the use of embryonic stem cells". Today, genetically modified mice are considered vital for medical research.

Sir Paul Nurse, Leland H. Hartwell and Tim Hunt win the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine “for their discoveries of key regulators of the cell cycle”. Sir Paul goes on to become the first Director of the Francis Crick Institute, in which UCL is a founding partner.

James Heckman wins the Nobel Prize in Economics "for his development of theory and methods for analysing selective samples". At UCL, Professor Heckman holds the Distinguished Chair of Economics.

Bert Sakmann shares the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for discoveries concerning the function of single ion channels in cells" and the invention of the patch clamp. In 1971, Sakmann moved from Munich to UCL, where he worked in the Department of Biophysics under Bernard Katz.

Sir James Black is awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for work leading to the development of propranolol and cimetidine, a drug used to treat stomach ulcers. He spent his career teaching and carrying out research in several universities in the UK.

Alongside Sir Bernard Katz and Julius Axelrod, Ulf Svante von Euler wins the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1970 "for their discoveries concerning the humoral transmittors in the nerve terminals and the mechanism for their storage, release and inactivation". Von Euler’s father Hans von Euler-Chelpin won the Nobel Prize in 1929 for his research in the field of Chemistry.

For his PhD, Sir Bernard Katz studies under Professor A. V. Hill at UCL, after which he leaves to continue his research in Australia. He returns to UCL once again in 1946, rejoining A. V. Hill's research unit as Assistant Director of Research and Henry Head Research Fellow (appointed by the Royal Society). Alongside Professor Ulf Svante von Euler and Julius Axelrod, he is awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for discoveries concerning the humoral transmittors in the nerve terminals and the mechanism for their storage, release and inactivation".

Baron Porter of Luddenham, Manfred Eigen and Ronald G. W. Norrish win the Nobel Prize in Chemistry "for their studies of extremely fast chemical reactions, effected by disturbing the equilibrium by means of very short pulses of energy". The same year, Baron Porter becomes Visiting Professor at UCL.

In 1960, Andrew Fielding Huxley becomes head of the Department of Physiology at UCL and wins the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1963 during his tenure. He is awarded the Prize alongside Sir John Eccles and Alan L. Hodgkin "for their discoveries concerning the ionic mechanisms involved in excitation and inhibition in the peripheral and central portions of the nerve cell membrane".

Francis Crick, his good friend James Watson and Maurice Wilkins are awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1962 "for their discoveries concerning the molecular structure of nucleic acids and its significance for information transfer in living material". Around the same time, he is also elected as a Fellow of UCL where he had obtained his BSc in Physics.

In 1951, Peter Medawar is appointed Jodrell Professor of Zoology at UCL, where he remains until 1962. During this time, he is awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for the discovery of acquired immunological tolerance".

Studying under Sir William Ramsay, W. C. Mc. C. Lewis and F. G. Donnan during his time at UCL, Jaroslav Heyrovsky becomes particularly interested in working on electrochemistry. He is awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1959 "for his discovery and development of the polarographic methods of analysis".

Vincent du Vigneaud wins the Nobel Prize in 1955 "for his work on biochemically important sulphur compounds, especially for the first synthesis of a polypeptide hormone". Du Vigneaud spent much time in both the United States and England where he carried out his research.

Considered one of the great synthetic organic chemists of the 20th century, Sir Robert Robinson wins the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1947 “for his investigations on plant products of biological importance, especially the alkaloids”.

Although Otto Hahn's research was interrupted by his service in the First World War, he went on to receive the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1945 (one year after it was awarded to him) "for his discovery of the fission of heavy nuclei".

Corneille Jean Francois Heymans is awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for the discovery of the role played by the sinus and aortic mechanisms in the regulation of respiration". Heymans worked in Ernest Starling’s laboratory at UCL.

Loewi is jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Sir Henry Hallett Dale “for their discoveries relating to chemical transmission of nerve impulses”. Loewi met Dale while working in Ernest Starling's laboratory at UCL, where they became lifelong friends.

Sir Henry Hallett Dale and his lifelong friend Otto Loewi, whom he met while carrying out research at UCL, win the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1936 "for their discoveries relating to chemical transmission of nerve impulses".

At the age of 22, Sir Frederick Hopkins goes to UCL where he takes the Associateship Examination of the Institute of Chemistry, later winning the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the research that led to his “discovery of the growth-stimulating vitamins".

Owen Willans Richardson's research and work on thermionic emission wins him the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1928 and eventually led to the law named after him. Richardson was not however awarded the prize until a year later, in 1929.

Archibald Vivian Hill wins the Nobel Prize in 1922 (not receiving the prize until the following year, however) "for his discovery relating to the production of heat in the muscle". The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is divided equally between himself and German scientist Otto Fritz Meyerhof.

Working at UCL with Sir William Ramsay, Frederick Soddy makes significant advancement in his study of radium emanation and is awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry "for his contributions to our knowledge of the chemistry of radioactive substances, and his investigations into the origin and nature of isotopes".

Sir William Henry Bragg, who was an honorary doctor of 12 universities, and his son William Lawrence are jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1915 "for their services in the analysis of crystal structure by means of X-rays".

It is entirely due to the Braggs' research that X-rays are used as an instrument for the systematic revelation of the way in which crystals are built.

Celebrated principally for his poetry, Rabindranath Tagore became the voice of India's spiritual heritage. His talent was recognised in 1913 when he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature for his "profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse".

Having discovered the elements helium, argon, neon, krypton and xenon, Sir William Ramsay was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry not only for the discovery but also for his “determination of their place in the Periodic system”.