Michel Mayor a reçu le titre de docteur honoris causa de l'EPFL en 2002. A gauche: Stefan Catsicas.
In 2002, EPFL awarded the distinction of doctor honoris causa to Michel Mayor, an astronomer at the University of Geneva, for discovering the first exoplanet. This past Tuesday, Mayor, along with colleague Didier Quéloz and the American scientist James Peebles, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics. This news was very well-received on the EPFL campus - "The plurality of worlds has left the realm of dreams to become an object of study." Those were the words spoken by Michel Mayor at EPFL's 2002 Master's degree graduation ceremony as he described the discovery that he, along with Didier Quéloz, made of the first planet located outside our solar system. Mayor was at EPFL to receive the title of doctor honoris causa. Yesterday, the two astrophysicists from the University of Geneva won the Nobel Prize in Physics for that very same discovery. The award also went to a third researcher in the same field, James Peebles, from Princeton University, for his "theoretical discoveries in physical cosmology." Jean-Paul Kneib, the director of the Laboratory of Astrophysics (LASTRO) and of EPFL's Space Center (eSpace), explains the significance of this news. Why does this Nobel Prize mean so much to EPFL? First, it's pretty uncommon for the Nobel Prize in Physics to be awarded in the field of astrophysics.
TO READ THIS ARTICLE, CREATE YOUR ACCOUNT
And extend your reading, free of charge and with no commitment.
Your Benefits
- Access to all content
- Receive newsmails for news and jobs
- Post ads
