Nobel Prize

Background 

The Nobel Prizes are among the most prestigious awards in the world. Each year, six prizes are awarded.

Five prizes honor people who have made important contributions to physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, and world peace. A sixth prize—given for advances in economics—is technically not a Nobel Prize but is typically included in the group. 

The winners of each prize receive a gold medal, a Nobel Prize diploma, and a monetary award valued at more than $1M. Since their inception, the Nobel Prizes have been awarded to almost a thousand individuals.

Origins 

Alfred Nobel was a Swedish businessman and inventor (see bio), most famous for inventing dynamite. Nobel died in 1896 and left 31 million in Swedish krona—equivalent to more than $200M—to establish the awards.

The awards were to be given to those who had provided “the greatest benefit to mankind” through their work in physics, chemistry, medicine, and literature. The Peace Prize focused on “fraternity between nations, the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses.” 

The first Nobel Prizes were awarded in 1901—including the first Nobel in physics, which went to Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen for the discovery of X-rays.

In 1968, Sweden’s central bank—the Sveriges Riksbank—created a sixth prize called the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel.

Selection Process

While the Nobel Foundation is tasked with implementing Nobel’s will, it is not responsible for picking the winners of each prize.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences selects the physics, chemistry, and economics awards. The humanities-focused Swedish Academy selects the winner for literature. The Karolinska Institutet, a medical university in Sweden, oversees the selection of a winner for physiology or medicine.

Lastly, the Norwegian Nobel Committee—five representatives appointed by the Norwegian parliament—awards the Peace Prize.

Nobel Prize recipients are announced each year in October, but awards are not presented until Dec. 10 (the anniversary of Nobel’s death). The Nobel Peace Prize ceremony is held in Oslo, Norway, while the rest are held in Stockholm, Sweden.

There are a couple of other rules worth noting. Besides one historical exception, Nobel Prizes cannot be awarded to someone who has died prior to selection. They also cannot be shared by more than three people, with the exception of the Peace Prize. If more than one person receives a Nobel Prize, the monetary award is split evenly among the recipients.

Controversies

While the Nobel Prizes are prestigious, they are not without controversy.

Some critics argue that limiting each prize to three or fewer people means that some researchers who played a critical role in major discoveries are not credited for their contributions. Others highlight the small number of women and people from low- or lower-middle-income nations recognized for their contributions (learn more).

The most high-profile criticisms of Nobel selections often involve the Peace Prize. Sometimes, this is due to accusations of war crimes or similar misdeeds, as was the case with Henry Kissinger, whose foreign policy positions are often tied to atrocities from Chile to Cambodia.