On December 10, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s passing, each prize—worth 10 million kronor, or around $900,000—will be presented to the winners along with a certificate and gold medal.
The season for the Nobel Prize officially begins in October. The winners of six awards will be revealed over the course of six days, bringing new names to the list of the most accomplished scientists, authors, economists, and champions of human rights.
The first Nobel Prize announcement for this year will be in medicine on Monday (today).
There will then be daily announcements for physics, chemistry, and literature over the next three days. The economics prize will be awarded on October 10, while the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize will be announced on Friday.
Here are five further details regarding the sought-after prizes:
The Nobel Prizes were founded by whom?
Alfred Nobel, a wealthy Swedish entrepreneur and the creator of dynamite, founded the prizes in medicine, physics, chemistry, literature, and peace through his will. Five years after Nobel’s passing, the first prizes were given out in 1901.
On December 10—the anniversary of Nobel’s passing in 1896—each prize, which is worth 10 million kronor (almost $900,000), will be presented together with a certificate and a gold medal.
The economics prize, which was established by Sweden’s central bank in 1968 and is officially named the Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, was not instituted by Nobel. The Nobel Prizes including the prize for economic sciences have been given out 609 times between 1901 and 2021.
Who knows why they will win?
The judges are not allowed to discuss their decisions for 50 years, according to the Nobel laws. Therefore, it will probably take some time before we are certain how the judges chose the candidates for 2022 and who made it into their shortlists. The judges make every effort to avoid giving away the winners before the announcements, but occasionally information does leak. European bookmakers occasionally give odds on potential Nobel laureates in literature and the peace prize.
Who may put forward a candidate?
The Nobel Prizes are open to submissions from thousands of individuals worldwide.
They consist of legislators, former Nobel laureates, university professors, and the committee members themselves.
Despite the nominations being kept a secret for 50 years, especially for the Nobel Peace Prize, the proposers sporadically make their proposals public.
What about the relationship with Norway?
The other prizes are given out in Sweden, but the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded in Norway. Alfred Nobel desired it that way.
His specific motivations are unknown, but during his lifetime, Sweden and Norway joined forces to form a union that was eventually broken up in 1905. The Stockholm-based Nobel Foundation, which administers the award money, and the fiercely autonomous Oslo-based peace prize committee occasionally have strained relations.
What is required to win a Nobel Prize?
For one, patience. Scientists frequently have to wait decades for the Nobel judges to acknowledge their work because they want to make sure any innovation survives the test of time. The awards should go to “those who, during the preceding year, shall have given the greatest benefit to mankind,” according to Nobel’s will. The only group that consistently recognizes accomplishments from the previous year is the peace prize committee.
That honor should go to “the person who shall have done the greatest or the best effort for fraternity between nations, for the elimination or reduction of standing armies, and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses,” in accordance with Nobel’s objectives.
