Saudi scientist Omar Yaghi, with Palestinian roots, wins 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry

Saudi scientist Omar Yaghi, along with Susumu Kitagawa and Richard Robson, has been awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their pioneering work on metal–organic frameworks, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced on Wednesday.

Yaghi, who was born in Jordan to Palestinian parents, received Saudi citizenship in 2021 under a royal decree granting nationality to distinguished experts in various fields.

The initiative was part of Saudi Vision 2030, aimed at attracting global talent, promoting foreign investment, and “creating an appropriate social and investment environment,” according to the Saudi Press Agency.

“The laureates, through the development of metal–organic frameworks, have provided chemists with new opportunities for solving some of the challenges we face,” the Nobel committee said in its statement.

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The prestigious award, which has been presented for over a century, comes with a prize of 11 million Swedish crowns (around $1.2 million). The Chemistry Nobel is the third to be announced this year, following the prizes for medicine and physics earlier in the week.

Established in 1901 under the will of Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel, the prizes recognize outstanding achievements in science, literature, and peace.

Nobel, himself a chemist, built his fortune from his invention of dynamite in the 19th century. The economics prize was later introduced and is funded by Sweden’s central bank.