Kohn and Pople

STOCKHOLM, Sweden (CNN) -- Two researchers at American universities, Austrian-born Walter Kohn and John Pople of Britain, won the 1998 Nobel Prize in chemistry on Tuesday.

"The laureates have each made pioneering contributions in developing methods that can be used for theoretical studies of the properties of molecules and the chemical processes in which they are involved," said the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in its award announcement.

Kohn and Pople will share the 7.6-million-kronor ($978,000) prize for separate accomplishments. Kohn was cited for development of density-functional theory and Pople for his development of computational methods in quantum chemistry.

Both Kohn and Pople have been working in the United States for many years.

Kohn, born in 1923, is with the department of physics at the University of California at Santa Barbara. Pople, born in 1925, is with the department of chemistry at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, near Chicago.

Quantum chemistry now is used in practically all branches of chemistry with the aim of increasing knowledge of the inner structure of matter, and Kohn's and Pople's work has been crucial for this new field of research, the academy said.

The research has many applications, for instance in pharmaceuticals to study how proteins interact with other molecules, to study the makeup of interstellar matter, or to study chemical reactions in the ozone layer to make the atmosphere cleaner.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.