The University of Sheffield
Research and Innovation

National and international honours

Nobel Laureates


Picture of Sir Harry Kroto

1996 Chemistry Prize

Sir Harry Kroto (BSc Chemistry 1961, PhD 1964) was awarded the Chemistry Prize for discovering a new form of carbon, known as "buckminsterfullerene", which stands alongside the two other well-defined forms, diamond and graphite.
Picture of Richard Roberts

1993 Medicine / Physiology Prize

Richard Roberts (BSc Chemistry 1965, PhD 1968) was awarded the Medicine / Physiology prize for his discovery of "split genes", thereby disproving the long-held theory that genes in plants and animals were made up of continuous segments of DNA. This has important biological, medical and evolutionary consequences.
Picture of Lord Porter

1967 Chemistry Prize

Lord Porter (Professor of Physical Chemistry 1955-66) for his discovery of flash photolysis, a technique which enabled chemists for the first time to measure the speed and mechanism of certain reactions that occurred too quickly for detection by conventional methods.
Picture of Sir Hans Krebs

1953 Medicine / Physiology Prize

Sir Hans Krebs (Lecturer in Pharmacology 1935-45, Professor of Biochemistry 1945-54) for the development of the Krebs Cycle, which explains how life-giving energy is set free in cells by oxidation of glucose to carbon dioxide and water.
Picture of Lord Florey

1945 Medicine / Physiology Prize

Lord Florey (Joseph Hunter Chair of Pathology 1932-35) for isolating and purifying penicillin and discovering its therapeutic effect in infectious diseases.