Tomorrow sees the announcement of the 2015 Nobel Prize for Physics, as one or more researchers joins the elite club of scientists whose achievements are scribed into the history of human innovation. Physics laureates come from a variety of different countries and research fields, as shown in this year’s inforgraphics and infographics from last year. But one feature these people do tend to have in common is that they are men. In fact, since the prize was first awarded in 1901, only two of the 199 individuals to win the prize have been women – Marie Curie in 1903 and Maria Goeppert-Mayer in 1963.

Among the female researchers who should arguably have been awarded a Nobel prize is Emmy Noether, the German mathematician whose life and work is introduced in this video for our 100 Second Science series.

The video’s presenter – Ruth Gregory of Durham University in the UK – explains how Noether’s eponymous theorem relates conservation laws to symmetries in nature. Noether did her groundbreaking work around a century ago but its significance has became increasingly apparent over the intervening years. For instance, the mathematical concepts of symmetry were applied to the study of fundamental particles, which became a key feature of the Standard Model of particle physics.

Sadly, Noether was not around to appreciate the full impact of her work, as she died at the relatively young age of 53, which is perhaps one of the reasons why she never won a Nobel.

The announcement of the 2015 Nobel Prize for Physics will be made tomorrow at 11.45 a.m. local time in Sweden (CEST). Stay tuned to this website and our Twitter feed @physicsworld for coverage tomorrow as events unfold. If we are to finally see another female physics laureate, then one worthy recipient would be Deborah Jin for her work on fermionic condensates. Jin is among the researchers predicted to win this year’s prize by the Physics World team.

If you enjoyed this video explainer, then check out more from our 100 Second Science series.