World Doctorates Day

                                World Doctorates Day is observed annually on August 25.

On World Doctorates Day, doctorate holders take a solemn pledge to uphold high ethical standards in both public and private endeavors, promote fellowship, compassion, scholarship, and responsible academic conduct

Nobel Laureates Who Received A Nobel Prize For Their PhD Thesis 

Carol Grieder: Nobel Prize For PhD Thesis 

In 1984, Elizabeth Blackburn and her graduate student Carol Greider discovered telomerase in the ciliate Tetrahymena.

Her doctoral thesis was centered on this discovery and characterization of telomerase, making it one of the rare cases where a PhD student’s thesis research later led directly to a Nobel Prize.

 Nobel Prize 2009 – Telomeres & Telomerase

• Laureates:

  • Elizabeth H. Blackburn (University of California, San Francisco)

  • Carol W. Greider (Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine)

  • Jack W. Szostak (Harvard Medical School)

• Citation: Awarded “for the discovery of how chromosomes are protected by telomeres and the enzyme telomerase.”

                                                          

Nobel Laureates Who Received A Nobel Prize For Their PhD Thesis 

Donna Strickland’s PhD thesis (1989, University of Rochester) introduced Chirped Pulse Amplification (CPA), a technique that revolutionized laser physics and found applications in eye surgery, micromachining, and fundamental physics. This exact work earned her the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physics, making her one of the rare laureates awarded for doctoral research.

                                First Published Scientific Paper = Nobel Prize, Physics 

• Strickland’s very first scientific paper — published while she was still a graduate student — introduced CPA. This single paper later became one of the most cited works in laser physics.

Donna Strickland = LASIK

Snapshot

World Doctorates Day (Aug 25) is a global academic observance celebrating doctorate holders, promoting responsible scholarship, and strengthening international collaboration through conferences and pledges.