Economics
Leonid Hurwicz of the University of Minnesota, Eric S. Maskin of the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton and Roger B. Myerson of the University of Chicago shared the 2007 Nobel Prize in economic sciences for "having laid the foundations of mechanism design theory." Their work, building on game theory, enables researchers to analyze the possible outcomes of applying different sets of rules to a given problem in situations when market conditions are less than "perfect"--such as when buyers and sellers do not have the same information or when markets are not free from restriction--and determine the optimal mechanism for achieving the best result. Mechanism design theory allows researchers "to distinguish situations in which markets work well from those in which they do not," according to the statement by the Royal Swedish Acadmemy of Sciences announcing the economics awards. Hurwicz first introduced the concept in 1960, and Maskin and Myerson are credited with further developing the theory and expanding its applicability to a great variety of situations. Today, mechanism design theory is a powerful tool with applications that include determining auction formats, trading mechanisms, social welfare systems and voting procedures. NSF supported Hurwicz's and Maskin's research beginning in the 1970s, and Myerson received awards in 1986 and 1993.
>> NSF-Supported Economics Laureates
Physiology or Medicine
The 2007 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine is shared by Mario R. Capecchi of the University of Utah, Oliver Smithies of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Sir Martin J. Evans of Cardiff University in the United Kingdom, in recognition of "their discoveries of principles for introducing specific gene modifications in mice by the use of embryonic stem cells." Their research has led to gene targeting technologies and tools that enable scientists to manipulate cells so as to create animal models of human diseases. Capecchi, who is the distinguished professor of biology and human genetics at Utah's School of Medicine and an investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, received a grant from NSF's cellular systems program in the mid-1970s for genetic studies on hormone-responsive cultured cells. Both Capecchi and Smithies are long-time grantees of the National Institutes of Health.
