What happens when you ask a Nobel Laureate to draw their research in crayon? You can find out at the exhibition “Sketches of Science: Photo Sessions with Nobel Laureates”, a display of 50 portraits of Nobel Laureates shot by German photographer Volker Steger. The worldwide tour of the exhibition, which has already been in Stockholm, Berlin, Singapore, Seoul, and Washington, made a stop at Hannover Messe, Germany, until April 17, 2015.

To get a spontaneous reaction from the Laureates, Steger put a blank sheet of paper and a box of crayons in front of them and challenged them to draw their discovery. Once completed, a portrait was taken of the Laureate holding the drawing. The exhibition has been produced by the Nobel Museum, Stockholm, Sweden, in collaboration with the Foundation Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings and principal funding by the Klaus Tschira Stiftung.

Steger’s work clearly shows the scientists’ enthusiasm for their research, see some examples below.

 

Sir Harold Kroto Chemistry 1996 “for the discovery of fullerenes” Robert B. Laughlin Physics 1998 “for the discovery of a new form of quantum fluid with fractionally charged excitations” Sir Timothy Hunt Physiology or Medicine 2001 “for the discoveries of key regulators of the cell cycle” Françoise Barré-Sinoussi Physiology or Medicine 2008 “for the discovery of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)” Aaron Ciechanover Chemistry 2004 “for the discovery of ubiquitin-mediated protein degradation”

 

(All photos: Ⓒ Volker Steger/Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings)

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• Website of “Sketches of Science”, Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings 

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  Nobel Laureates and young scientists enjoyed international research dialogue in relaxed atmosphere at the 63rd Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting