Moungi Bawendi

This Tunisian has been awarded the 2023 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his research into nanomaterials. His message? Persevere!

In 2023, Moungi Bawendi, 63, a professor at the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (along with American Louis E. Brus and Russian Alexeï Ekimov) for his work on the synthesis of colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals. These nanocrystals, also known as quantum dots, could have practical applications ranging from television screens to cancer research. The son of a Tunisian mathematician who emigrated to the United States, Moungi Bawendi studied chemistry at Harvard University and then at Chicago University. After completing his doctoral thesis, he became interested in nanoparticles and tubular aggregates, establishing himself in the 2000s as one of the international leaders in nanochemistry. “Scientists are explorers; we ask questions and search for answers about the world around us”, he said during his Nobel Prize speech in Stockholm. He also jokingly recalled how, when he arrived at Harvard University, he got an F in his very first exam: “I was devastated. I loved chemistry, but I had never learned how to answer questions in an exam.” The Nobel Prize winner's message to the younger generation is clear: “Persevere! Don't let setbacks destroy you.”