Nobel prices and honors: University of Vienna celebrates 660 years of top research!

Nobel prices and honors: University of Vienna celebrates 660 years of top research!

Laimgrubengasse 10, 1060 Wien, Österreich - On March 12, 2025, the University of Vienna celebrated its Academicus, on the occasion of the 660th day of foundation. As part of the celebrations, the Nobel Prize winner Emmanuelle Charpentier, who researched from 2002 to 2009 at the University, was awarded an honorary doctorate. Rector Sebastian Schütze praised her as a “leading scientist worldwide”, whose development of the CRISPR-CAS9 technology has revolutionized molecular biological research. This groundbreaking technology has the potential to treat genetic diseases such as cystic fibrosis, and is referred to as "tools to rewrite the code of life", such as science.apa.at reported.

In addition, a new installation entitled "Nobel Prize and University of Vienna - Group picture with question marks" in the university auditorium was unveiled on this day. This installation, designed by the artist duo Bele Marx and Gilles Mussard, was added to the portraits of Charpentier and the quantum physicist Anton Zeilinger, who received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2022. This expansion is reminded of Nobel Prize winners who have worked at the university, and at the same time pointed out the dark history of the expulsion of scientists during the National Socialist period.

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