The Nobel Prize is a system of international awards established through the will of Swedish inventor and industrialist Alfred Nobel. First awarded in 1901, the original prizes recognize achievements in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, and peace. An associated prize in economics, established separately in 1968, is administered within the same institutional framework. Recipients, known as laureates, receive a medal, a diploma, and a monetary award. The founding purpose is to recognize work that has brought exceptional benefit to humanity. (nobelprize.org)
Origins and establishment
Nobel signed his final will in Paris on 27 November 1895. He directed that most of his estate be invested and its income distributed annually among five prize categories. His instructions connected scientific discoveries, literary achievement, and international peace within a single philanthropic undertaking. The will also stipulated that candidates’ nationality should not determine the awards: the most deserving recipient was to be selected regardless of national origin. (nobelprize.org)
Nobel died on 10 December 1896. Implementing his will required negotiations involving his relatives, executors, and the institutions designated to select recipients. The Nobel Foundation was established in 1900 to manage the financial assets and organizational framework supporting the prizes. The first awards were presented on 10 December 1901, the fifth anniversary of Nobel’s death. The foundation manages the endowment but does not itself choose the laureates. (nobelprize.org)
Although the will referred to achievements made during the preceding year, the foundation’s statutes allow older work to be recognized when its significance has become apparent only recently. Consequently, the prize year need not coincide with the year in which the recognized discovery or work originated. (nobelprize.org)
Categories and awarding institutions
Responsibility for selection is distributed among institutions in Sweden and Norway rather than concentrated in a single international jury:
- The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awards the Nobel Prize in Physics and the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
- The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet awards the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
- The Swedish Academy awards the Nobel Prize in Literature.
- The Norwegian Nobel Committee, whose five members are elected by Norway’s parliament, awards the Nobel Peace Prize. (nobelprize.org)
The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences is formally the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel. Sweden’s central bank established it in 1968 to mark its three-hundredth anniversary; it was first awarded in 1969. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences selects its recipients. Although commonly grouped with the Nobel Prizes and presented alongside them, it was not created by Nobel’s will. (nobelprize.org)
The Peace Prize can recognize organizations as well as individuals. Its historical recipients include the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. (nobelprize.org)
Nomination and selection
Candidates must be nominated by people eligible under the rules of the relevant awarding institution. Depending on the category, these may include university professors, academy members, previous laureates, and members of parliamentary assemblies. Self-nominations are not accepted. Nomination is therefore a procedural requirement, not an award or an official endorsement of a candidate’s achievements. (nobelprize.org)
The annual process generally begins with invitations to nominators, followed by a submission deadline at the end of January. Committees assess candidates, obtain expert evaluations, and prepare recommendations. The responsible awarding body makes the final decision; announcements normally take place in October. Award decisions are final and cannot be appealed. (nobelprize.org)
Nomination and evaluation records remain confidential for fifty years. The institutions therefore do not publish contemporary candidate lists or disclose their deliberations. This distinction matters when interpreting public claims of nomination: a nominator’s statement is separate from confirmation by an awarding institution. After the confidentiality period, archival records can support historical research into selections and unsuccessful candidacies. (nobelprize.org)
Sharing, eligibility, and unawarded prizes
A prize may be awarded to one person or shared, but its monetary award cannot be divided among more than three individuals. Sharing need not mean equal thirds: the rules allow division between two recognized works, with the recipients responsible for each work sharing its portion. This structure places an explicit limit on the number of individually recognized contributors. (nobelprize.org)
Since 1974, the statutes have generally prohibited posthumous awards, while allowing an announced laureate’s prize to be presented if the recipient dies before receiving it. In 2011, Ralph Steinman’s medicine award was retained after the foundation learned that he had died before the announcement, because the selecting body had not known of his death. A category may also go unawarded when no candidate’s work meets the required standard. (nobelprize.org)
Receiving one award does not exclude a person from later recognition. Marie Curie received the physics prize in 1903 and the chemistry prize in 1911; Linus Pauling received the chemistry prize in 1954 and the Peace Prize in 1962. (nobelprize.org)
Ceremonies and award objects
The presentation ceremonies take place on 10 December. Physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, and economic sciences are presented in Stockholm, while the Peace Prize is presented in Oslo. The Stockholm ceremony has usually been held at the Stockholm Concert Hall since 1926 and is accompanied by the Nobel Banquet. (nobelprize.org)
Each laureate receives a Nobel Prize Medal, an individually designed diploma, and documentation of the monetary award. Medal designs vary by category, while the diplomas are unique works of art commissioned by the awarding institutions. Nobel lectures form another part of the award framework, giving recipients an opportunity to explain the work or concerns associated with their recognition. (nobelprize.org)