Explore a list of Nobel Prize winners supported by National Science Foundation grants

Nobel Prizes in science have heavily favored male, North American, and European scientists

Most science laureates come from established academic institutions, and limited outreach and nomination rules have biased against researchers from low- and middle-income countries. As of 2024, China ranks among the world’s top scientific contributors, but has only won 10 Nobel Prizes in the sciences.

Explore the full list of Nobel Prize winners

Since 1901, about 1,000 individuals have been awarded Nobel Prizes. The Nobel Foundation provides biographies of every winner and concise descriptions of their accomplishments, as well as interviews and videos with more recent winners.

Non-Nobel Prize awards recognize topics outside of chemistry, physics and medicine

Established in 2002, the Abel Prize awards $750,000 to a mathematician for pioneering scientific achievements, while the $1M Turing Award honors contributions in computer science. Additional prizes in earth science, engineering, environmental science and policy, astrophysics, nanoscience and neuroscience have also been established.

As of 2025, only five people have won two Nobel Prizes

Marie Curie's awards in physics and chemistry and Linus Pauling's in chemistry and peace are the only pairs in different fields. Awards to Curie's daughter and sons-in-law have made the Curies the most awarded family in history.

Learn about the Graduate Research Fellowship Program, the NSF's longest-running program

Since 1952, the program has supported over 70,000 full-time graduate students pursuing master's and doctoral degrees in STEM fields and education, helping nurture a pipeline of professionals to advance scientific progress in the US. More than 40 former fellows have received Nobel Prizes. (Some readers may experience a paywall.)

An analysis of the National Science Foundation's historical budget and spending

The NSF accounted for 0.1% of all federal spending in FY2024, with $9.39B—just over twice its FY1991 spending—out of $6.78T overall. Almost 99% of these funds ($9.29B) went to general science and basic research, with the rest allocated to national defense.

Read more about the backstory on the 2025 Nobel Prize for immune system work

A trio of scientists won the Nobel in Physiology or Medicine that year, but they performed their award-worthy work beginning about two decades before winning the prize. This announcement includes details about the science and notes that the three scientists will equally share the 11 million Swedish kronor (almost $1.2M).

How the National Science Foundation supports the US economy

The NSF has filled funding gaps in the research and development of products developed in the private sector, particularly when the research requires more than three years to complete. These investments, including in startups such as Qualcomm and Symantec, have supported job creation, generated economic returns, and helped build the technologies many industries rely upon, such as the internet.

View an historical mural depicting the NSF's impact across seven decades

From 1950 to 2020, the National Science Foundation supported discovery-based, exploratory research that led to numerous breakthroughs, including the development of supercomputing centers, 3D printing technologies, biometric identification systems, an understanding of vector-borne illnesses, a DNA amplification technique, mobile meteorology units, and scientific education and literacy programming.

Some Nobel laureates have expressed beliefs in pseudoscience after winning

Examples of the phenomenon, known as Nobelitis or Nobel disease, include promoting psychic research, harmful practices like eugenics, and seeing talking raccoons. Increased external pressures after a win and a greater spotlight may contribute to developing or exposing these beliefs.

A former grant recipient and reviewer explains how the NSF decides what research to fund

Every year, approximately 50,000 research proposals are evaluated against two merit review criteria approved by the National Science Board: the quality of the project and its potential societal impact. These evaluations are conducted by experts in the fields related to each proposal, identified by NSF program officers from a list of about 50,000 volunteers.

Winning a Nobel in economics takes decades of impact and a Swedish stamp of approval

The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences isn’t one of the original five prizes in Alfred Nobel’s will but was added by Sweden’s central bank in 1968. Candidates are nominated by top economists, with a focus on lasting academic influence.

Experience games that explore Nobel Prize-winning work

Inspired by the educators who set laureates on their path, the Nobel Foundation has created a library of interactive activities for the general public. These allow users to make groundbreaking discoveries, showing that such work is accessible to all.

Understanding why Republicans have challenged funding for the NSF

Lack of Congressional support in funding the National Science Foundation has often been justified by the party's interest in cutting federal deficits and reducing waste for seemingly frivolous research projects. However, an analysis of NSF grant data from 1992 to 2018 shows that awards were given to Democratic constituencies at disproportionately higher rates than to Republican ones, despite a lack of evidence of partisanship in proposal reviews. (Some readers may experience a paywall.)

Explore an animated list of nine scientific breakthroughs funded by NASA, the NSF, and the NIH

Among the technologies made possible by the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health were the CAPTCHA digital puzzles to block bots from accessing sites, the set of diabetes and obesity drugs that fall under the umbrella of GLP-1 receptor agonists, and various cordless appliances, including the handheld vacuum cleaner. (Some readers may experience a paywall.)

Why a Nobel Prize winner was awarded 30 years of free beer

Niels Bohr, the Danish physicist who won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1922, moved into the Carlsberg Honorary Residence in 1932 and was entitled to free delivery of Carlsberg beer for as long as he lived there. He did so until he died in 1962.

Each Nobel committee sends nomination requests to 3,000 leading academics annually

Each Nobel selection committee consults with experts to create a shortlist of finalists from the hundreds of nominations, which is then sent to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. The literature and peace awards also involve nominations from "qualified persons," such as university professors.

University of California Santa Barbara produced 6 Nobel prize winners

The public school system is ranked as the eighth best by Forbes, and 56 of its faculty are members in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. See more figures on the school here.

The best photos of scientists at work in 2025

The winners of Nature's 2025 photo competition capture the essence of scientific fieldwork in diverse and challenging environments. From a biologist battling waves for whale research to ice core drilling in polar night conditions, this gallery details the research being each winning photo.

Fiction winners see the most financial gain

The Pulitzer Prize brings prestige, but inconsistent financial benefits. For nonfiction writers, receiving the award does increase sales, but only modestly. The big winners are the fiction writers, some of whom have seen sales double after a win.

Meet the the scientists of the Manhattan Project

This resource profiles the scientists behind the Manhattan Project—from Nobel laureates like Fermi and Bethe to controversial figures like Teller and Fuchs—showing how their ideas, rivalries, and choices shaped the development of the atomic age.

As of 2025, the most cited papers in science include a review of graphene, methods to improve image recognition, streamlining electron density calculations, and optimizing protein studies.

As of 2025, the most cited papers in science include a review of graphene, methods to improve image recognition, streamlining electron density calculations, and optimizing protein studies.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. became the youngest Nobel Peace Prize laureate in 1964

At the age of 35, Dr. King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his nonviolent leadership in the Civil Rights movement, making him the youngest recipient at the time.

Bill Nye received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2025

The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce awarded its 2,821st star to Nye for his "dedication in making science accessible and entertaining for all ages through his iconic educational show." Former "Almost Live!" colleagues Joel McHale and Ross Shafer spoke in Nye's honor during the ceremony.

See data measuring the emotional range of Meryl Streep

With nearly a century's worth of ceremonies and winners, the Academy Awards has plenty of data to be mined. Explore the career of the most-nominated-actor-ever, Meryl Streep, as well as data related to how Oscars impact film profits, and how winners express gratitude in their speeches.

The Nasdaq's 'Magnificent 7' companies are responsible for roughly 40% of the Nasdaq 100 index's gains, while the remaining 93 companies account for the other 60%.

Roughly 43 million US borrowers owe roughly $1.7T in student debt, the second-largest source of consumer debt behind mortgages.

The USPS spent $3.97B in 2024, accounting for .058% of the federal budget.

In 2026, Finland was named the world's happiest country for the ninth consecutive year based on its wealth, social safety network, and high life expectancy, among other factors.

In 1939, baseball star Lou Gehrig delivered his inspirational 'Luckiest Man' speech after retiring due to the health condition that now bears his name.

Experimental hantavirus vaccines and therapies, still under development, have long been funded by the US military.

About 2,000 US babies are born annually without some portion of their limbs, potentially leading to a lifetime of pricey prosthetics.

Louisiana's 'Cancer Alley' is infamous for having some of the highest industrial pollution, toxic air emissions, and cancer risks in the US.

SpaceX's S-1 or 'prospectus' revealed many previously unknown details about the company, including its unprofitability despite doing $18.7B in revenue in 2025, exactly how many voting shares Elon Musk will have in the company (roughly 85%), and more.

The name 'Silicon Valley' arose from the founding of Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory in Fairchild Semiconductor in 1956-57, founded near Stanford University in Palo Alto

Explore a list of the 100 best novels of all time, compiled by some of the world's best living writers, including Salman Rushdie, Stephen King, and Jennifer Egan.

Astronauts have repaired genetic damage in space using CRISPR—a molecular tool that can make precise changes to DNA and is used in single-celled organisms to attack invasive viruses.

Clever Hans was a 1900s horse that was believed to be able to solve math equations, tell time, and read and comprehend German, until a psychology student discovered how he got his answers.

The most expensive ad of all time was for Chanel No. 5 perfume and cost roughly $33M to produce in 2004—about $57M in today's dollars.

Search a massive database of over 4 decades of clues from the TV quiz show 'Jeopardy!'

Neutron stars, the remains of some massive stars after they explode in a supernova, are the densest directly observable objects in the universe.

SpongeBob exemplifies Aristotle's philosophy for living well because he understands that happiness doesn't come from external factors like money, recognition, or power.

See how each of the more than two million known species relates to each other—and to common ancestors—in this zoomable tree of life.

Fish populations in the Great Barrier Reef have increased after installing waterproof speakers on the ocean floor that played recordings of sounds from healthy coral reefs.

For centuries, Niagara Falls has been a magnet for daredevils seeking to conquer one of nature's most powerful wonders, with its 200-foot drop and water rushing at 32 feet per second with 280 tons of force.

While El Niño moves warm Pacific Ocean waters east along the equator, La Niña moves them west, shifting where rainfall will become more common for months.

Researchers believe the brain consolidates memories, processes emotions, and plans for the future during dream states

Some researchers have labeled nomophobia, the fear of being without your phone, as 'the phobia of the 21st century.'