A Scots scientist has won the Nobel Prize for chemistry.
Bellshill -born David WC MacMillan received the award along with German scientist Benjamin List of the Max Planck Institute.
MacMillan, 53, currently holds the position of James McDonnell Distinguished University Professor of Chemistry at Princeton University.
The pair were cited for their work in developing a new way for building molecules known as “asymmetric organocatalysis”.
The winners were announced yesterday by Goran Hansson, secretary-general of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
It is common for scientists who work in related fields to share the prize.
MacMillan graduated with a degree in chemistry from Glasgow University before moving to the USA in 1990 to begin his docotoral studies.
In 2010, he became the founding editor-in-chief of the journal Chemical Science, considered to be the flagship general chemistry journal published by the Royal Society of Chemistry.
The prestigious Nobel Prize comes with a gold medal and 10 million Swedish kronor (£800,000).
The prize money comes from a bequest left by the prize’s creator, Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel, who died in 1895.
On Monday, the Nobel Committee awarded the prize in physiology or medicine to Americans David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian for their discoveries into how the human body perceives temperature and touch.
The Nobel Prize in physics was awarded on Tuesday to three scientists whose work found order in seeming disorder, helping to explain and predict complex forces of nature, including expanding our understanding of climate change.
Over the coming days, prizes will also be awarded for outstanding work in the fields of literature, peace and economics.
