From Mustafa Prize to Nobel: Palestinian Wins Top Chemistry Award

Date: 08 October 2025 - 21:10

News ID: ۱۴۴۴۳۰

STOCKHOLM (Dispatches) -- Omar Yaghi’s journey began in a one-room shelter in a Palestinian refugee camp on the edge of Amman, Jordan, where he was born in 1965.
The small space, shared with dozens of family members and even livestock, offered little privacy, let alone opportunity.
His parents, displaced and impoverished, could neither read nor write. Yet the boy who emerged from those modest beginnings would grow into a scientist whose work could help reshape the planet’s future.
In October 2025, Yaghi was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his co-development of metal-organic frameworks—crystalline structures with immense potential for capturing carbon, storing energy, purifying water, and addressing some of humanity’s most pressing environmental and technological challenges.
Metal-organic frameworks, or MOFs, are porous materials made by linking metal atoms with organic molecules in precise geometric patterns.
Though they are solid to the touch, MOFs are filled with microscopic cavities—like molecular-scale spongework—that can trap gases, separate chemicals, or act as vessels for reactions.
A tiny fragment of a MOF can contain an internal surface area equivalent to a football field. The Nobel Committee compared them to Hermione Granger’s handbag in the Harry Potter series—deceptively small, but able to contain much more than meets the eye.
Yaghi’s scientific vision goes beyond MOFs. He is the founder of a new discipline in chemistry: reticular chemistry, the science of designing crystalline structures by linking molecular building blocks.
His work also led to the development of covalent organic frameworks (COFs), expanding the toolkit available for creating “designer materials” with highly tunable properties.
These innovations have broad applications in clean energy, medicine, and environmental technologies—from capturing greenhouse gases to delivering drugs within the human body.
But Yaghi’s story is not only one of scientific achievement—it is also one of extraordinary personal ascent.
He moved to the United States at the age of 15, alone, speaking little English. He worked his way through school, eventually earning a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
His academic path took him to Harvard, the University of Michigan, UCLA, and finally the University of California, Berkeley, where he now leads one of the world’s foremost labs in materials chemistry.
Today, he ranks among the five most-cited chemists in the world, with over 200 published papers and a legacy that spans both theory and application.
Among the many awards Yaghi has received throughout his career, one stands out for its cultural and geopolitical resonance: the Mustafa Prize, which he was awarded in 2015.
The prize, established by the Islamic Republic of Iran, is one of the most prestigious scientific honors in the Muslim world. It aims to celebrate and empower scientists of Islamic heritage who have made groundbreaking contributions to science and technology.
Yaghi received the prize in recognition of his pioneering work in nanotechnology and molecular materials, particularly the development of MOFs.
For Yaghi, a Palestinian-born American scientist, the award symbolized more than a personal accolade. It underscored the idea that talent can come from any corner of the world, and that the Islamic world, too often excluded from global scientific narratives, is home to researchers pushing the frontiers of knowledge.
In many ways, this echoes Yaghi’s own philosophy. “Science gave me wings,” he said following the Nobel announcement. “It can do that for anyone.”
He often describes science as the greatest equalizer, a domain where ideas matter more than credentials, and where merit rises above circumstance.
In 2017, he received the Albert Einstein World Award of Science. He holds honorary professorships and affiliations in countries across Asia and the Middle East, including China, South Korea, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
His collaborations have extended well beyond academia, bringing his work into partnerships with industry and government for practical applications in carbon capture, hydrogen storage, and water harvesting.
Despite his accolades, Yaghi remains clear-eyed about the road that brought him here. He speaks often about the importance of investing in minds everywhere, particularly in places affected by poverty, war, or displacement.
His work is not just about molecular frameworks—it’s about building the frameworks of opportunity and access that allow science to thrive anywhere.
The materials Yaghi has designed may one day help hydrate deserts, clean polluted air, or power the next generation of sustainable technologies.
But perhaps just as important is what his story represents: a powerful demonstration that intellect is universal, and that science, at its best, does more than solve problems—it changes lives.