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UPSC Prelims 2026 GS Paper 1, question 81

Topic: Current affairs

Q81

‘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’ :

  1. (a) Michel H. Devoret
  2. (b) Richard Robson
  3. (c) John ClarkeCorrect answer
  4. (d) Joel Mokyr

Solution.

Answer: (c) John Clarke

  1. John Clarke, born in Cambridge, United Kingdom (1942), was an emeritus professor of physics at the University of California, Berkeley (an American university) when he was awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics.
  2. Michel H. Devoret was born in France, Joel Mokyr was born in the Netherlands, and Richard Robson (though born in the UK) was a professor at the University of Melbourne in Australia.

Trap: Both John Clarke and Richard Robson were born in the UK and won Nobel Prizes in 2025, but Clarke was a professor at UC Berkeley (USA) whereas Robson was at the University of Melbourne (Australia).