Peter Hegemann ignored the Nobel Committee's request for a call back shortly before the Nobel Prize was announced

Shortly before the announcement of his Nobel Prize in Medicine, Peter Hegemann ignored a request for a callback from the Nobel Committee. "I got an email from someone I didn't know. And it said: 'Call me back. I have something important for you,'" said the scientist from Humboldt University Berlin in an interview with the Nobel Prize Outreach organization.

Then he noticed the area code of the number stored. When he looked closer, the 71-year-old came to a conclusion: "I remember from my sailing experiences that this had to be Sweden. So I called the person back and it was the board of the Nobel Committee."

He received the call shortly before 11 a.m., just a few minutes before the awards were officially announced. Hegemann was overwhelmed by the news of his award. “It's incredible when you get this news, but you need time to realize what happened,” Hegemann continued.

Optogenetics combines optical and genetic methods to non-invasively stimulate individual neurons. It shows “how nerve cells in the brain shape memories, feelings and behavior,” explained the Nobel Committee.

Prize winners receive around $1.2 million

The award winners laid the foundation for a new era in neuroscience. The process can now be used therapeutically – for example in ophthalmology.

The award is worth twelve million Swedish crowns (the equivalent of around $1.2 million), which the three scientists share.