UPSC Prelims 2026·GS1·science-technology·nobel prizes

'X', born in the UK, was conferred the Nobel Prize in 2025. He was a professor in an American university when this prize was announced. Identify 'X':

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Last updated 25 May 2026, 8:23 pm IST
  1. AMichel H. Devoret
  2. BRichard Robson
  3. CJohn ClarkeCorrect
  4. DJoel Mokyr

Explanation

Correct Option: C (John Clarke)

John Clarke was born in Cambridge, United Kingdom, in 1942,. In October 2025, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences jointly awarded him the Nobel Prize in Physics for his foundational role in discovering macroscopic quantum mechanical tunnelling and energy quantisation in electrical circuits,. At the time of the announcement, Clarke was an emeritus professor of physics at the University of California, Berkeley, an American university,. His pioneering work in the 1980s, alongside his co-laureates, demonstrated quantum phenomena on a macroscopic scale, laying the groundwork for modern superconducting quantum computers,.

Incorrect Options: A) Michel H. Devoret: While Devoret was a co-recipient of the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics alongside John Clarke and was affiliated with American universities (Yale and UC Santa Barbara),, he was born in Paris, France, not the UK,. B) Richard Robson: Robson was born in the UK (Yorkshire) and was a co-recipient of the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his pioneering development of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs),. However, he spent his career at the University of Melbourne, an Australian institution, not an American one,. D) Joel Mokyr: Mokyr was a co-recipient of the 2025 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences and is a professor at Northwestern University in the United States,. However, he was born in Leiden, the Netherlands, not the UK,.

Concluding Takeaway: To remember the 2025 Physics Nobel laureates and their domain, use the mnemonic MAC: Martinis, And Devoret, Clarke, who proved quantum mechanics on a MACroscopic scale.

science-technology: 'X', born in the UK, was conferred the Nobel Prize in 2025. He was a professor in an American university when this prize

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