University of California’s nobel Successes Highlight the Importance of Federal Research Funding
The university of California (UC) system has once again demonstrated it’s position as a global leader in research and innovation, with three faculty members and one alumnus receiving Nobel Prizes in 2025. These awards – in Physiology or Medicine, Physics, and Chemistry - underscore the critical role of sustained federal investment in scientific advancement.
UC’s history with the Nobel Prize is unparalleled. Since 1934, 74 UC faculty and staff have been honored with 75 Nobel Prizes spanning multiple disciplines. This year’s awards bring the total number of Nobel laureates affiliated with UC at the time of their award to 49, the highest of any institution worldwide.
The 2025 Nobel laureates connected to UC are:
* Frederick J. Ramsdell (UC San Diego & UCLA alumnus): Awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or medicine, jointly with Mary brunkow and Shimon Sakaguchi, for groundbreaking discoveries concerning peripheral immune tolerance. Ramsdell earned his bachelor’s degree from UC San Diego and his doctorate from UCLA.
* John Clarke, John M. Martinis,and Michel H. Devoret (UC Berkeley & UC Santa Barbara): Honored with the Nobel Prize in Physics for their revelation of macroscopic quantum mechanical tunnelling and energy quantisation in an electric circuit.Clarke is an emeritus professor at UC Berkeley, while Martinis and Devoret are emeritus and current professors, respectively, at UC Santa Barbara.
* Omar M. Yaghi (UC Berkeley): Awarded the nobel Prize in Chemistry, shared with Richard Robson and Susumu Kitagawa, for the development of metal-organic frameworks.
These achievements are not isolated incidents, but rather a direct outcome of long-term federal support for university research. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) provided crucial funding for Dr. Ramsdell’s research into a genetic mutation causing a fatal immune disorder.Drs. Clarke, Martinis, and Devoret’s foundational work in quantum computing benefited from support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Department of Energy (DOE), and the National Security management. similarly, Dr. Yaghi’s advancements in chemistry, now utilized for carbon capture and water harvesting, were funded by the NSF, DOE, and the Department of Defence.
UC emphasizes that these breakthroughs, and the potential for future discoveries addressing critical challenges like arthritis and multiple sclerosis, are dependent on continued federal investment. Current freezes and proposed cuts to federal research funding pose a threat to American innovation,economic growth,and global scientific leadership. UC launched the “Speak Up for Science” campaign earlier this year to advocate for the rebuilding of federal support for U.S. research and innovation, highlighting the vital link between public funding and world-class scientific progress.
