Nobel Prize | Definition, History, Winners, & Facts (2024)

Nobel Prize, any of the prizes (five in number until 1969, when a sixth was added) that are awarded annually from a fund bequeathed for that purpose by the Swedish inventor and industrialist Alfred Nobel. The Nobel Prizes are widely regarded as the most prestigious awards given for intellectual achievement in the world. To browse Nobel Prize winners alphabetically, chronologically, and by prize, see below.

In the will he drafted in 1895, Nobel instructed that most of his fortune be set aside as a fund for the awarding of five annual prizes “to those who, during the preceding year, shall have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind.” These prizes as established by his will are the Nobel Prize for Physics, the Nobel Prize for Chemistry, the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine, the Nobel Prize for Literature, and the Nobel Prize for Peace. The first distribution of the prizes took place on December 10, 1901, the fifth anniversary of Nobel’s death. An additional award, the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, was established in 1968 by the Bank of Sweden and was first awarded in 1969. Although not technically a Nobel Prize, it is identified with the award; its winners are announced with the Nobel Prize recipients, and the Prize in Economic Sciences is presented at the Nobel Prize Award Ceremony.

After Nobel’s death, the Nobel Foundation was set up to carry out the provisions of his will and to administer his funds. In his will, he had stipulated that four different institutions—three Swedish and one Norwegian—should award the prizes. From Stockholm, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences confers the prizes for physics, chemistry, and economics, the Karolinska Institute confers the prize for physiology or medicine, and the Swedish Academy confers the prize for literature. The Norwegian Nobel Committee based in Oslo confers the prize for peace. The Nobel Foundation is the legal owner and functional administrator of the funds and serves as the joint administrative body of the prize-awarding institutions, but it is not concerned with the prize deliberations or decisions, which rest exclusively with the four institutions.

The selection process

The prestige of the Nobel Prize stems in part from the considerable research that goes into the selection of the prizewinners. Although the winners are announced in October and November, the selection process begins in the early autumn of the preceding year, when the prize-awarding institutions invite more than 6,000 individuals to propose, or nominate, candidates for the prizes. Some 1,000 people submit nominations for each prize, and the number of nominees usually ranges from 100 to about 250. Among those nominating are Nobel laureates, members of the prize-awarding institutions themselves; scholars active in the fields of physics, chemistry, economics, and physiology or medicine; and officials and members of diverse universities and learned academies. The respondents must supply a written proposal that details their candidates’ worthiness. Self-nomination automatically disqualifies the nominee. Prize proposals must be submitted to the Nobel Committees on or before January 31 of the award year.

On February 1 the six Nobel Committees—one for each prize category—start their work on the nominations received. Outside experts are frequently consulted during the process in order to help the committees determine the originality and significance of each nominee’s contribution. During September and early October the Nobel Committees have accomplished their work and submit their recommendations to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and the other prize-awarding institutions. A committee’s recommendation is usually but not invariably followed. The deliberations and the voting within these institutions are secret at all stages. The final decision by the awarders must be made by November 15. Prizes may be given only to individuals, except the Peace Prize, which may also be conferred upon an institution. An individual may not be nominated posthumously, but a winner who dies before receiving the prize may be awarded it posthumously, as with Dag Hammarskjöld (for peace; 1961), Erik Axel Karlfeldt (for literature; 1931), and Ralph M. Steinman (for physiology or medicine; 2011). (Steinman was named a winner several days after his death, which was unbeknownst to the Nobel Assembly. It was decided that he would remain a Nobel laureate, since the purpose of the posthumous rule was to prevent prizes being deliberately awarded to deceased individuals.) The awards may not be appealed. Official support, whether diplomatic or political, for a certain candidate has no bearing on the award process because the prize awarders, as such, are independent of the state.