A Belgian woman takes the helm of one of the four main Nobel Prize committees

At 59, Ellen Moons becomes the first woman to hold a position that involves, among other things, the responsibility for awarding three Nobel Prizes. While the Nobel Peace Prize, awarded in Oslo, is decided by a committee appointed by the Norwegian parliament, and the Nobel Prizes in Medicine and Literature are awarded by specific Swedish institutions, the Nobel Prizes in Physics, Chemistry, and Economics are all awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (KVA), which this Belgian woman has now taken the reins of. A first for a woman since the academy's creation in 1739!

This is a great honor for this scientist who began her academic career at Ghent University, where she studied physics, before embarking on an international career as a researcher on photovoltaic and dye-sensitized solar cells, with stints at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) and Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. From 1995, Ellen Moons specialized in polymer light-emitting diodes (LEDs) with a position at the University of Cambridge. In 2006, she joined Karlstad University in Sweden, where five years later she became a professor of physics in the Department of Engineering and Physics.

Since 2022, Ellen Moons has served on the Nobel Committee responsible for awarding the Nobel Prize in Physics. Now, as Secretary General of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, this Belgian will be responsible for the official announcement of the Nobel laureates in Physics, Chemistry, and Economics.

Congratulations to this Belgian scientist on this prestigious appointment!