The Nobel Prize in Physics 2025 has been awarded to John Clarke, Michel H Devoret and John M Martinis “for the discovery of macroscopic quantum mechanical tunnelling and energy quantisation in an electric circuit.”

The trio won the Nobel for the discovery of macroscopic quantum mechanical tunnelling and energy quantisation in an electric circuit.

According to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the laureates carried out a series of experiments showing that even the strange properties of the quantum world can be observed in a system large enough to hold in your hand.

"Their superconducting electrical system could tunnel from one state to another, as if it were passing straight through a wall. They also showed that the system absorbed and emitted energy in doses of specific sizes, just as predicted by quantum mechanics," the release said.

Last year, John Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton received the Nobel Prize in Physics for using physics tools to develop methods that are now the foundation of modern machine learning.

Hopfield built an associative memory that could store and reconstruct images and other data patterns, while Hinton designed a technique that automatically identifies features within data, allowing it to recognize elements in images.

On Monday, Mary Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell, and Shimon Sakaguchi were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2025 for their pioneering work on peripheral immune tolerance, a mechanism that helps the immune system fight harmful microbes without attacking the body’s own cells.

Nobel Prizes are also awarded in chemistry, literature, and peace, each with a cash prize of 11 million Swedish crowns ($1.2 million). The recognition brings recipients instant fame, which is rare for most scientists.

The Nobel Prize was established by Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel. In his will, he instructed that the majority of his estate be used for "prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind".

Winners are selected by specific institutions according to category. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences chooses winners in chemistry and physics, the Swedish Academy for literature, the Karolinska Institute in Sweden for physiology and medicine, and the Norwegian parliament for peace.

Additionally, the Prize in Economic Sciences in memory of Alfred Nobel was set up by Sweden’s central bank in 1968 to mark its 300th anniversary, and it also provides funding to the Nobel Foundation.