Recent Nobel laureate Katalin Karikó, a Hungarian biochemist living in the United States and a professor at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Szeged, stressed to Hungarian news agency MTI that it is not awards that serve as motivation for her research but rather the awareness that people are suffering and solutions must be found to help them.

Hungarian President Katalin Novák hosted a gala dinner on Monday in Budapest to honour the two new Hungarian Nobel Laureates: Katalin Karikó and Ferenc Krausz.

In an interview with feol.hu, President Novák stressed that the success of Hungary’s recent Nobel laureates is further proof that Hungary had and still has excellent teachers. She added that the country must create the conditions for both the moral and financial appreciation of educators and acknowledged that ‘we’re not doing well’ in that respect.

After the announcement yesterday of Katalin Karikó being awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2023, a wave of congratulations poured in from Hungarian politicians. She also shared some thoughts about her scientific journey and life philosophy in a brief, first telephone interview.

Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman have been awarded the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their development of mRNA-based vaccine technology, which has been successfully used in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.