Fresh Nobel laureate Hungarian physicist offers his prize money to victims of war in Ukraine

Hungarian scientist Ferenc Krausz, who has just been awarded the Nobel Prize in physics, has offered his prize money to victims of the war in Ukraine, Portfolio reports.

Krausz, who is originally from the Hungarian town of Mór and currently lives and works in Germany, is one of the pioneers of attophysics. He shared this year's Nobel Prize in physics awarded for his research on ultrashort pulses of light, with two of his fellow researchers, Pierre Agostini and Anne L'Huillier. You may read more about their research in this article.

The three prize-winning researchers will share a total of SEK 11 million (nearly 947,000 euros)). After winning the Nobel Prize, Krausz gave an interview to Deutschlandfunk radio, where he said he would not keep the prize money for himself, but would donate it to the association he founded a year and a half ago, called Science4People. The association's goal is to bring together people from the world of science to help those affected by the war in Ukraine.

The Hungarian physicist added that he had also earmarked the financial portion of the other prizes he has recently won for this initiative, and it will be no different with the Nobel Prize.

According to the association's website, Science4People aims to support local communities and projects within Ukraine. They support activities that meet immediate needs and create lasting value. Their first projects helped around 30 children who had lost their homes in eastern Ukraine and found shelter in the primary school of a small village of Svoboda in western Ukraine. More than 300 students at the school are being supported with digital learning tools.