Nobel Laureate in Chemistry Dr. Benjamin List donates an official replica of the medal

Specially Appointed Professor Benjamin List (left) hands an official replica of the Nobel Prize medal to President Kiyohiro Houkin. (Photo: Miho Nagao)

Specially Appointed Professor of WPI-ICReDD and Hokkaido University Professor Benjamin List (Director of the Max Planck Institute for Coal Research) won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2021. On August 28, 2024, Dr. List donated an official replica of the Nobel Prize medal to the Hokkaido University Museum. A donation ceremony was held where Dr. List handed the replica medal to President Kiyohiro Houkin.

A close-up of the Nobel Prize medal replica donated by Dr. List (Photo: Miho Nagao)

Nobel laureates are allowed to receive up to three official replicas with permission from the Nobel Foundation; the first of which was donated to Hokkaido University. The design and size are identical to the original but the gold content is different. “As a scientist, I weighed the medals and compared them. The replica is 20 grams lighter than the real one,” said Dr. List in the ceremony which made everyone laugh.

Dr. Benjamin List answers questions from reporters at the donation ceremony. (Photo: Miho Nagao)

Dr. List has been conducting research at Hokkaido University as a Principal Investigator since 2018, when WPI-ICReDD was established. “Hokkaido University, which approached me before I won the Nobel Prize, is my ‘second home’ in research. This donation is a token of my gratitude,” he said when asked about the reason behind this donation. 

He added, “I decided to become a chemist when I was 11 years old. Since then I have pursued only my passion for chemistry. I want to tell young people to pursue what they truly love.”

President Kiyohiro Houkin (Photo: Miho Nagao)

President Kiyohiro Houkin said, “I am honored to have received this extremely rare official replica of the medal. Dr. List’s achievements not only highlight the excitement of chemistry but also benefit the society. I hope that the children who see the exhibition will think, ‘I want to do this kind of work.’ I also hope that researchers at Hokkaido University will be motivated to become candidates for the next Nobel Prize.”

Dr. List in the Nobel Prize exhibition corner in Hokkaido University Museum (Photo: Miho Nagao)

An official replica medal of Hokkaido University Professor and Professor Emeritus Akira Suzuki (2010 Nobel Prize laureate in chemistry) is on display at the Hokkaido University Museum. Dr. List’s medal will be placed next to it in the future. The exhibition space is currently under renovation and is closed to the public for at least 6 months.

Dr. List signs a card on Hokkaido University Professor Akira Suzuki’s table as exhibited in Hokkaido University Museum (Photo: Nagao Miho)

The “List Sustainable Digital Transformation (DX) Catalyst Collaboration Research Platform,” aka “List Platform”, was launched in 2023. This is a collaborative research project on environmentally friendly next-generation organocatalysts, at the WPI-ICReDD. This research project promotes the development of next-generation organocatalysts that take into account the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and environmental impact by integrating technologies from multiple fields such as computational chemistry and artificial intelligence, and its second symposium was also held at WPI-ICReDD on August 29, 2024.

Dr. List gives a lecture at the List Platform Symposium (Photo: Aprilia Agatha Gunawan)

Group photo with the participating faculty members (Photo: Aprilia Agatha Gunawan)

Original article in Japanese by Yuka Saito

Rearranged by Aprilia Agatha Gunawan