Trio of scientists win Nobel Prize in Chemistry for research on nanocrystals

The trio, whose names were leaked to the Swedish press ahead of the announcement, were able to produce these tiny components that "now spread their light from TVs and LED lamps and can also guide surgeons when removing tumor tissue, among many other things," it announced the jury.

The names of the recipients had already been reported by Swedish media, several of which said they had received a press release from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences naming the three US-based chemists - hours before the academy even met for the final vote on the winners .

Bawendi said he was "shocked" by the news and had not seen the leaked reports, AFP reported.

Leaks about the Nobel Prize are rare, with the various academies taking great pains to keep the winners' names secret until the announcement.

Bawendi, 62, born in Paris to French and Tunisian parents, is a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the United States.

Bruce, 80, is a professor at Columbia University in New York, and Russian-born Alexei Ekimov works at US-based Nanocrystals Technology.

The trio will share the $1 million prize when they receive it from King Carl XVI Gustaf at a ceremony in Stockholm on December 10, the anniversary of the death in 1896 of the scientist Alfred Nobel, who created the prizes in his last will and testament.

The chemistry award is the third of the season, following the physics medicine awards that were announced earlier in the week.

In medicine, RNA researchers Catalin Carrico and Drew Weissman were honored for their groundbreaking technology that paved the way for mRNA vaccines against Covid-19.

The physics prize a day later went to Frenchman Pierre Agostini, Ferenc Kraus (Hungary, Austria) and Anne L'Juliet (France, Sweden) for research using ultra-fast flashes of light that allow the study of electrons inside atoms and molecules.

The most awaited literature and peace awards will be announced on Thursday and Friday respectively.

The economics prize — established in 1968 and the only Nobel prize not included in Swedish inventor and philanthropist Alfred Nobel's 1895 will establishing the prizes — closes the 2023 Nobel season on Monday, October 9. /BGNES