The Korean Academy of Science and Technology (KAST) said it elected four female Nobel laureates as foreign members at the "2026 2nd extraordinary board meeting" held on the morning of the 19th.
The newly elected foreign members are Anne L'Huillier, a professor at Lund University in Sweden; Donna Strickland, a professor at the University of Waterloo in Canada; May-Britt Moser, a professor at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology; and Françoise Barré-Sinoussi, a doctor at the Institut Pasteur in France.
Professor L'Huillier received the 2023 Nobel Prize in physics for leading research on attosecond light pulses that can observe the movement of electrons inside matter. Professor Strickland won the 2018 Nobel Prize in physics for contributing to the development of chirped pulse amplification, a core technology for generating high-power laser pulses.
Professor Moser is a neuroscientist who clarified how the brain recognizes space and location. She received the 2014 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for her work on grid cells that defined the brain's positioning system. Dr. Barré-Sinoussi won the 2008 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for discovering human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the virus that causes acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS).
With this election, KAST now has 59 foreign members. Of these, 34 are Nobel laureates.
KAST President Jeong Jin-ho said, "The addition of distinguished female scholars from various countries as foreign members will serve as an opportunity to broaden international exchange," adding, "We will push forward practical exchange programs so that the election of foreign members does not remain an honorary appointment."