Question
‘X’, born in the UK, was conferred the Nobel Prize in 2025. He was a professor in an American university when this prize was announced. Identify X:
AMichel H. Devoret
BRichard Robson
CJohn Clarke ✓
DJoel Mokyr
✓ X = John Clarke — 2025 Nobel Physics Laureate
🏅 John Clarke (born 10 February 1942)
Born
Cambridge, UK ✓ — United Kingdom
American University
UC Berkeley, USA ✓ — Professor Emeritus of Physics
Nobel Prize
Physics 2025 ✓ — 7 October 2025
Prize citation
Discovery of macroscopic quantum mechanical tunnelling and energy quantisation in an electric circuit
Co-laureates
Michel H. Devoret (Yale/UCSB) · John M. Martinis (UCSB)
Education
BA 1964 + PhD 1968, Cambridge University · Joined UC Berkeley 1969
Why Each Option is Right or Wrong — All Four Checked
A
✗ Born France, not UK
Michel H. Devoret
Nobel Prize: Physics 2025 ✓Born: 1953, Paris, France ✗ — NOT UK
American university: Yale University + UC Santa Barbara ✓
Eliminated because: Born in France, not UK. Both the Nobel Prize and American university conditions are met, but the birth-country condition fails.
B
✗ Not at American university
Richard Robson
Nobel Prize: Chemistry 2025 ✓ — Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs)Born: Glusburn, UK ✓ — United Kingdom
University: University of Melbourne, Australia ✗ — NOT American
Eliminated because: UK-born and Nobel Prize 2025 conditions met, but he is a professor in Australia, not America.
C
✓ All three conditions met
John Clarke ✓ — THE ANSWER
Nobel Prize: Physics 2025 ✓Born: 10 February 1942, Cambridge, UK ✓
American university: Professor Emeritus, UC Berkeley, USA ✓
All three conditions confirmed: UK-born ✓ · Nobel Prize 2025 ✓ · Professor at American university ✓
D
✗ Born Netherlands, not UK
Joel Mokyr
Nobel Prize: Economics 2025 ✓ — Innovation-driven economic growthBorn: 1946, Leiden, Netherlands ✗ — NOT UK
American university: Northwestern University, USA ✓
Eliminated because: Born in the Netherlands (not UK). Both the Nobel Prize and American university conditions are met, but the birth-country condition fails.
2025 Nobel Prize Winners — All Four Options Compared
| Person | Nobel 2025 | Born | University when announced | Match? |
| Michel H. Devoret | Physics | Paris, France ✗ | Yale + UC Santa Barbara, USA ✓ | ✗ Wrong birth country |
| Richard Robson | Chemistry (MOFs) | Glusburn, UK ✓ | Univ. of Melbourne, Australia ✗ | ✗ Not American university |
| John Clarke ✓ | Physics | Cambridge, UK ✓ | UC Berkeley, USA ✓ | ✓ ALL conditions met |
| Joel Mokyr | Economics | Leiden, Netherlands ✗ | Northwestern Univ., USA ✓ | ✗ Wrong birth country |
John Clarke — Full Profile
| Parameter | Detail |
| Full name | John Clarke |
| Born | 10 February 1942, Cambridge, England, UK (age 83) |
| Education | BA in Physics, Christ’s College Cambridge (1964) · PhD, Darwin College Cambridge at Cavendish Lab (1968) · Postdoctoral fellow at UC Berkeley |
| Career | Joined UC Berkeley faculty: 1969 · Professor Emeritus of Physics, Graduate School, UC Berkeley |
| Nobel Prize | Physics 2025 — announced 7 October 2025 · Shared equally with Michel H. Devoret and John M. Martinis |
| Citation | “For the discovery of macroscopic quantum mechanical tunnelling and energy quantisation in an electric circuit” |
| Research area | Superconducting Quantum Interference Devices (SQUIDs) · Macroscopic quantum tunnelling · Qubits for quantum computing |
| Honours | Fellow of the Royal Society · Honorary Fellow, Christ’s College Cambridge · National Academy of Sciences member · Fritz London Memorial Award · Comstock Prize in Physics · 1987 California Scientist of the Year |
| Significance | His work laid the foundation for superconducting qubits — at the heart of today’s quantum computers (Google, IBM, etc.) |
Memory Trick
🧠 The Two-Step Elimination
Condition 1 — Born in UK: Two options pass — Richard Robson (Glusburn, UK) and John Clarke (Cambridge, UK). Devoret = France. Mokyr = Netherlands. After Step 1, only B and C survive.
Condition 2 — Professor at American university: Richard Robson = University of Melbourne, AUSTRALIA — eliminated. John Clarke = UC Berkeley, USA ✓ — only Clarke meets both conditions. Answer: (C).
2025 Physics Nobel — three physicists from UC Berkeley ecosystem: Clarke (Berkeley) + Devoret (Yale/UCSB) + Martinis (UCSB). Clarke was Martinis’s PhD supervisor — teacher and student both won the Nobel together. The prize was for macroscopic quantum tunnelling demonstrated in 1984-85.
Richard Robson trap — UK-born, wrong country: UPSC planted Robson (born UK, Chemistry Nobel 2025 for MOFs) to catch students who stop at the UK-born condition. Always verify BOTH conditions: born in UK AND professor at American university.
