As the announcement of the 2026 Nobel Prizes in Science concluded, the United States, Europe, and Japan swept the medals. In particular, Japan set a record by producing a Nobel Prize in Chemistry laureate for the second consecutive year. Attention had been focused on the possibility of a first South Korean Nobel Prize in Science this year, but it did not materialize. The domestic scientific community described it as "an opportunity to reflect on our own research environment."
With the announcement of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry on the 7th (local time), all recipients in the medical and scientific fields for 2026, including the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, the Nobel Prize in Physics, and the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, were announced.
The 2026 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Francis Halzen, a particle physicist and professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the United States (dual Belgian-U.S. citizen), for his success in capturing ultra-high-energy neutrinos through the "IceCube" project. The Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Henri Kagan, an emeritus professor at Paris-Sud University in France, and Kenso Soai, an emeritus professor at Tokyo University of Science in Japan, for elucidating the mechanism of "enantiomers."
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine went against expectations that it would be awarded to GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide-1), which drove the "obesity treatment boom," and instead selected optogenetics. Optogenetics is a field of study that controls nerve cells using light. The laureates are Karl Deisseroth, a professor at Stanford University in the United States; Georg Nagel, a professor at the University of Würzburg in Germany; and Peter Hegemann, a professor at Humboldt University in Germany.
Based on the institutional affiliation of the researchers, the United States added two Nobel Prizes in Science this year. This was followed by two for Germany, one for France, and one for Japan.
In particular, Japan has secured the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the second consecutive year, following last year's award to Susumu Kitagawa, a special professor at Kyoto University, for his development of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). This marks the 10th Nobel Prize in Chemistry awarded to Japanese nationals. To date, there have been 12 Japanese recipients of the Nobel Prize in Physics and six recipients of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
The anticipated first South Korean Nobel Prize in Science did not materialize. While it was widely argued that a Nobel Prize in Science was premature for South Korea due to its shorter history of basic science research compared to Europe and the United States, expectations had risen recently as the names of South Korean scientists have appeared at prestigious international awards known as "stepping stones to the Nobel Prize."
In July last year, Kim Beon-rae, head of the RNA Research Group at the Institute for Basic Science (IBS) and a chair professor in the Department of Life Sciences at Seoul National University, became the first South Korean to receive the Nakasone Award from the Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP). The Nakasone Award is presented to researchers who have achieved innovative results in the life sciences, and four out of the 21st past recipients have gone on to win Nobel Prizes. Additionally, last year, a South Korean physicist received the "Breakthrough Prize," often called the "Nobel Prize of Silicon Valley."
In the scientific community, there are suggestions that this year's results should be used as an opportunity to pose questions to our research field. Oh Kyung-soo, a professor at Chung-Ang University College of Pharmacy, stated, "While South Korean researchers in organic chemistry and medicinal chemistry have built a considerable level of research over the past few decades," he added, "it is time to reflect on whether we are currently engaged in research that produces one more new catalyst, or in catalyst research that creates new chemical concepts."
Professor Oh noted, "What the research of Kagan and Soai shows is that Nobel Prizes do not necessarily come only through massive research funding or large-scale research teams," adding, "Rather, when a single researcher holds onto one fundamental question for decades and discovers phenomena that existing explanations are insufficient to account for, it can lead to innovation." He emphasized, "It is important to restore a research environment where one can challenge new chemical questions even if there is a possibility of failure, and where a single research topic can be developed over the long term."
in TECH
