Nobel Week

Posted on by

Dear Physics Community,

Jane Ann and I just returned from Nobel Prize Week in Stockholm where we were guests of Rai Weiss.  The Nobel Prize is about the biggest thing that happens in Stockholm, they really go all out for the Week, to a stunning result.  The events of the week are televised and Sweden spends the week celebrating intellectual achievement.
Rai-01
Last Friday, Rai gave his Nobel Prize lecture as the first of three parts, followed by Barry Barish and Kip Thorne.  Rai spends a good deal of his time recognizing the great contributions of the LIGO team, LSC, NSF,…
You can see Rai’s Nobel Prize Lecture here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgICZnAo04A
 
Sunday, was the Nobel Prize Ceremony, where the Laureates receive their medal and diploma from the King of Sweden: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNWwGQAKidA
If you look carefully, our Department is well represented on stage. The Nobel Peace Prize is given on the same day by the Norwegian Nobel Committee in Oslo, Noway.  This year, the Pease prize was awarded to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons and you can see their ceremony here: http://www.nobelpeaseprize.org.
Followed by the Banquet, where Rai gave a short speech on behalf of the Physics Laureates.  Video shows just how lavish the Banquet (*) is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiKovEM1Cb4
(Thanks to Tran for finding these.)
The other Banquet speeches are well worth watching – they are short, informal, and quite moving:
The Nobel Laureates work hard during Nobel Week, with many other lectures and appearances you can see here: https://www.nobelprize.org/
It was a privilege to be a part of this amazing week.  Many from MIT went and there are stories and pictures to collect and share.  The above is the “official” part I wanted to be sure everyone in the community got a chance to see before too much time passed.
Peter
(*) This video shows the setup of the 2011 Nobel Banquet: https://www.nobelprize.org/mediaplayer/index.php?id=2396