by Nina Vaclavikova
Students at the International Center for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) in Trieste received an unexpected visitor on Wednesday: 2025 Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry Omar Yaghi.
Taking an informal approach, Yaghi invited students to hold his Nobel medal and encouraged them to persevere in their scientific pursuits.
Asked what it takes to become a Nobel laureate, Yaghi emphasized resilience. “You have to be prepared to endure failures and difficulties,” he said. “The process is long, but it rewards perseverance.”
Yaghi reflected on his own journey, recalling his childhood in a refugee camp in Amman, Jordan, where he shared a single room with his family and livestock. At 15, he moved to the United States to pursue his passion for chemistry.
“I grew up in a refugee camp, but my parents gave me the freedom to follow my ambitions,” he said. “I still remember visiting a library and seeing drawings of molecules for the first time.”
The visit coincides with the centenary of the birth of physicist Abdus Salam, the founder of ICTP. “We are honored by Nobel laureate Omar Yaghi’s visit,” said ICTP Director Atish Dabholkar.
