The Nobel Prizes are prizes instituted by the will of Alfred Nobel, awarded to people (and also to organizations in the case of the Nobel Peace Prize) who have done outstanding research, invented groundbreaking techniques or equipment, or made outstanding contributions to society. The Nobel Prizes, which are generally awarded annually in different categories, are widely regarded as the supreme commendation in the world today.
As of November 2005, a total of 776 Nobel Prizes have been awarded (758 to individuals and 18 to organizations). However, a few prize winners have declined the award. There may be years in which one or more prizes are not awarded; however, the prizes must be awarded at least once every five years. The prize cannot be revoked. Since nominees must be living at the time they are nominated, it is very rare that the prize is awarded posthumously.
The committees and institutions that serve as selection boards for the prizes typically announce the names of the laureates in October. The prizes are awarded at formal ceremonies held annually on December 10, the date that Alfred Nobel passed away.
The peace prize ceremony was held at the Norwegian Nobel Institute from 1905 until 1946, later at the Aula of the University of Oslo, and since 1990 at the Oslo City Hall. The other prize ceremonies were held at the Stockholm Concert Hall as of 2005.
Each award can be given to a maximum of three recipients per year. Each prize constitutes a gold medal, a diploma, and a sum of money. The monetary award is quite large, currently about 10 million Swedish Kronor (slightly more than one million Euros or about 1.3 million US dollars). This was originally intended to allow laureates to continue working or researching without the pressures of raising money. In actual fact, many prize winners have retired before winning, and some Literature winners have been silenced by it, even if younger. If there are two winners in one category, the award money is split equally between them. If there are three winners, the awarding committee has the option of splitting the prize money equally among all three, or awarding half of the prize money to one recipient and one-quarter to each of the other two. It is customary (but not mandatory) for the recipients to donate the prize money to benefit scientific, cultural or humanitarian causes.
Since 1902, the King of Sweden has formally awarded all the prizes, except the Nobel Peace Prize, in Stockholm. King Oscar II initially did not approve of awarding grand national prizes to foreigners, but is said to have changed his mind after realising the publicity value of the prizes for the country.
The first Nobel Peace Prize was awarded in 1901, given by the President of Norwegian Parliament until the Norwegian Nobel Committee was established in 1904. Its five members are appointed by the Norwegian Parliament (Stortinget), and it is entrusted both with the preparatory work related to prize adjudication and with the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize. Its members are independent and do not answer to lawmakers. Members of the Norwegian government are not allowed to take any part in it.
The prizes were instituted by the final will of Alfred Nobel, a Swedish chemist, industrialist, and the inventor of dynamite. Alfred Nobel wrote several wills during his lifetime. The last one was written on November 27, 1895 — a little over a year before he died. He signed it at the Swedish-Norwegian Club in Paris on November 27, 1895. Though his work had directly involved the creation of explosives, Nobel became increasingly uneasy with the military usage of his inventions. It is said that this was motivated in part by his reading of a premature obituary of himself, published in error by a French newspaper who mistook Alfred for his brother Ludvig when Ludvig died, and which condemned Alfred as a “merchant of death.” So in his will, Alfred left 94% of his worth to the establishment of five prizes (physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, and peace) for “those who, during the preceding year, shall have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind.”
As compared with some other prizes, the Nobel prize nomination and selection process is long and rigorous. This is an important reason why the Prizes have grown in importance and prestige over the years to become the most important prizes in their field.
Forms, which amount to a personal and exclusive invitation, are sent to about 3000 selected individuals to invite them to submit nominations. For example the Nobel Foundation states that in the case of the peace prize the following people may nominate:
• Members of national assemblies and governments of states
• Members of international courts
• University rectors
• Professors of social sciences, history, philosophy, law and theology
• Directors of peace research institutes and foreign policy institutes
• Persons who have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
• Board members of organisations who have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
• Active and former members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee
• Former advisers appointed by the Norwegian Nobel Institute
Similar requirements are in place for the other prizes.
The strictly enforced submission deadline for nominations is January 31. Self-nominations are automatically disqualified and only living persons are eligible for the Nobel Prize.
Unlike many other awards, the Nobel Prize nominees are never publicly announced, and they are not supposed to be told that they were ever considered for the prize. These records are sealed for 50 years.
After the nomination deadline, a Committe compiles and screens the nominations to a list of around 200 preliminary candidates. The list is sent to selected experts in the field to each nominee’s work and the list shortened to around 15 final candidates. The Committee then writes a report with recommendations and sends it to the Academy or other corresponding institution, depending on the prize. As an example of institute size, the Assembly for the Prize for Medicine has 50 members. The members of the institution meet and vote to select the winner(s).
The process varies slightly between the different disciplines. For instance, Literature is rarely awarded to collaborators but the other prizes often involve multiple names.
Posthumous nominations for the Prize are not allowed. This has sometimes sparked criticism that people deserving of a Nobel Prize did not receive the award because they died before being nominated. In two cases the Prize has been awarded posthumously to people that were nominated when they were still alive.
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