A Nobel Challenge...

A high-profile graphene researcher has written to the Nobel prize committee for physics, objecting to errors in its explanation of this year's prize. The award was given to Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov of Manchester University, UK, for their work on graphene, a two-dimensional carbon structure that has huge potential in the field of electronics.

"The Nobel Prize committee did not do its homework," says Walt de Heer of Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. He sent his letter to the committee on 17 November.

After enquiries made by Nature in advance of De Heer's letter, the committee is making at least one correction to its online information, says chairman Ingemar Lundström. "Some of the things we also think are mistakes."

De Heer holds patents on the use of graphene in electronics, and made some of the earliest measurements of electronic effects in the material. Geim accuses de Heer of trying to boost his own reputation. "If he complains about Stockholm, some people might start thinking that he contributed something important," says Geim.

Nature News: Nobel prize committee under fire