International jury

Kip S. Thorne

physics
2017 Nobel Prize laureate

International jury

Kip S. Thorne

physics
2017 Nobel Prize laureate

Kip S. Thorne is an American physicist, known for his work in gravitational physics and astrophysics, with emphasis on relativistic stars, black holes and gravitational waves. He is one of three scientists who were awarded the Nobel Prize in 2017 for the first direct detection and observation of gravitational waves. He has entered the history of science fiction as the executive producer and science advisor of Christopher Nolan’s Hollywood movie Interstellar.

Kip S. Thorne is an American physicist, known for his work in gravitational physics and astrophysics, with emphasis on relativistic stars, black holes and gravitational waves. He is one of three scientists who were awarded the Nobel Prize in 2017 for the first direct detection and observation of gravitational waves. He has entered the history of science fiction as the executive producer and science advisor of Christopher Nolan’s Hollywood movie Interstellar.

Kip Thorne is one of the world's leading experts on the astrophysical implications of Einstein's theory of relativity. He started his university studies at the California Institute of Technology, after which he obtained his doctor’s degree at Princeton University in 1965. The following year he returned to the California Institute of Technology, where he worked until his 2009 retirement from Caltech's Feynman Professorship of Theoretical Physics.

After his retirement, Thorne has ramped up new directions of his career, including the famous movie Interstellar, where he was not only a consultant but also a co-author of the original concept, book writing and various collaborations at the interface between science and the arts. Nevertheless, he also continued his scientific research.

Together with ten young physicist colleagues, he has invented tools for visualizing space-time curvature. He has also collaborated with composer Hans Zimmer and visual effects guru Paul Franklin on multimedia concerts on the Warped Side of the Universe. He is currently working on another movie, as well as on poetic prose about the Warped Side of the Universe.