Every year as the announcement of the Nobel Prize approaches, expectations for potential candidates rise. SAGAWA Masato, the inventor of the world’s strongest permanent magnet, the neodymium magnet, has been often mentioned. His invention is used in a wide range of products, including smartphones, air conditioners and electric vehicles, and is considered a key breakthrough for today’s IT society. How did the idea come about? What drove his research? In January 2025, we talked with Sagawa on the occasion of a lecture at his alma mater, Kobe University.

FarmUs — a farm-to-campus collaborative — involves interdisciplinary product development and undergraduate research experience by K-State students. Through the Research and Development of Food Products capstone course, students develop, prepare and test recipes in small batches and then scale them up to be made and served in the dining centers.

Rice University is home to a prominent scientist who plays a key role in one of the most prestigious honors in the world. Pernilla Wittung-Stafshede, the Charles W. Duncan Jr.-Welch Chair in Chemistry and a scholar at the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, is a member of the Nobel committee for chemistry. Each year, this committee is responsible for proposing Nobel Prize laureates in chemistry to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, which makes the final decision.

Stopping Outbreaks in Their Tracks... Georgia State researchers are working to address global health challenges. From fighting viruses and tracking disease spread to studying developing threats, they’re developing solutions to help protect communities worldwide.

40 years after flying aboard the Challenger, Professor Terry Hart is continuing his mission to make spaceflight safer and more efficient by training the next generation of aerospace and space systems engineers. At Lehigh University, he's been the driving force behind a new master’s degree program in Aerospace and Space Systems Engineering (MS-AERO). "The aerospace field is changing fast, and I want students to be ready for the challenges and opportunities ahead," Hart says.

Harnessing quantum computing for industry: The Competence Center Quantum Computing Baden-Württemberg (KQCBW) is continuing to pursue this goal in its third funding phase, five years after its founding in 2020. Building on a preparatory transfer project, expertise is being further expanded under the leadership of the Fraunhofer IAF and IAO institutes.

A breast oncologist and researcher, Carmen Calfa, M.D., is driven not only to solve clinical problems and improve treatments, but also to advocate for the emotional needs of her patients and their families. In her interrelated roles at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, part of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Dr. Calfa supports everyone from “previvors” — people with a high risk of developing cancer because of genetic mutations — to people who are decades into survivorship.