Listen to Nobel Laureates
John B. Goodenough: "We compete against problems, not against people"
At 97, John B. Goodenough is the oldest person ever to receive a Nobel Prize. The 2019 Chemistry Laureate might also be one of our most optimistic laureates ever. Here he talks about growing up with dyslexia, the importance of good teachers and what you need to be a successful scientist.
“I remember being told over and over again: Women, you can do anything, so it never entered my mind that I couldn’t”
In this interview 2018 Physics Laureate Donna Strickland talks about her early years, women in science, collaboration and about being awarded the Nobel Prize.
Chemistry Laureate Frances Arnold about motivation
When you come to the fork in the road, take it!
Some motivational words from 2018 Chemistry Laureate Frances Arnold.
15 minutes with Physics Laureate Didier Queloz
“There is no age for being clever!”
If you had the chance to meet a Nobel Laureate, what would you ask? High school student Jin Manlai met Didier Queloz to talk about life, science and career choices. Besides discussing these topics, Jin was lucky enough to get a sneak peek of Queloz’s Nobel Prize medal that he just picked up minutes before their meeting.
'Lost and Found'
Watch the documentary ‘Lost and Found’
The film follows Kamal Hussein, a Rohingya refugee in the world’s largest refugee camp who has dedicated his life to reuniting children with their parents, with the support of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. This National Geographic Documentary Film is the result of a partnership between the Nobel Prize and Academy Award-winning director Orlando von Einsiedel (‘The White Helmets’).
The video is available all over the world, apart from in the following countries: Spain, Australia, India, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, South Sudan, Tunisia, Mauritania, all of the Middle East.
Book excerpts
On nobelprize.org, you can find excerpts from many of our literature laureates' literary works such as Olga Tokarczuk's book 'Flights', Gabriel García Márquez's novel 'One Hundred Years of Solitude' and Wisława Szymborska's poem 'The Three Oddest Words'.
Enjoy some excerpts from books or poems written by literature laureates. Discover all the excerpts here.
© Nobel Media. Photo: A. Mahmoud
Coming up
This year’s Nobel Prize announcements will take place 5-12 October.
© Nobel Media AB. Photo: A. Mahmoud
Nobel Prize Conversations
Should you be able to buy a kidney?
Economic Sciences Laureate Alvin Roth would call that, and other taboo exchanges, repugnant transactions. Roth pioneered ways of describing outlier markets where prices don’t work, explaining why you can’t buy a job at Google, acceptance at Yale – or a human organ.
In 2012, Alvin Roth was awarded the Prize in Economic Sciences for his work in matching markets.
More conversations
Explore and learn
Marie Curie harnessed the promise of radioactivity. Rita Levi-Montalcini redefined how our bodies work. Tu Youyou’s breakthrough malaria treatment saved the lives of millions around the world. Women who changed science celebrates and explores the lives of the remarkable women who have been awarded Nobel Prizes for their scientific achievements.
Nobel Prize nominations
The Norwegian Nobel Committee received 318 candidates for the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize. 107 of these are organizations.
Olav Njølstad, Director of the Norwegian Nobel Institute, answers questions about the Nobel Peace Prize.
No person can nominate herself/himself for a Nobel Prize. But who can? And how are these persons chosen?
In his last will and testament, Alfred Nobel specifically designated the institutions responsible for the prizes he wished to be established.
Ask a Nobel Laureate: Sustainability Edition
You asked – he answers!
What did Nobel Laureate Steven Chu say when we asked your questions on sustainability and climate change?
Find out by watching the Q&A with Chu. He has devoted a large part of his scientific career to searching for solutions to our climate challenges.
Steven Chu was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics 1997
Nobel Minds 2019
Nobel Laureates in discussion
The 2019 Nobel Laureates met at the old Stockholm Stock Exchange Building (Börshuset) in Gamla stan, Stockholm for the traditional round-table discussion and TV program 'Nobel Minds'. The laureates talked about their research, what drives them and their visions for the future. The discussion was hosted by the BBC's Zeinab Badawi.
Nobel Prizes 2019
The Nobel Prize in Physics 2019 was awarded with one half to James Peebles “for theoretical discoveries in physical cosmology” and the other half jointly to Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz “for the discovery of an exoplanet orbiting a solar-type star.”
© Johan Jarnestad/The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2019 was awarded jointly to John B. Goodenough, M. Stanley Whittingham and Akira Yoshino “for the development of lithium-ion batteries.”
© Johan Jarnestad/The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2019 was awarded jointly to William G. Kaelin Jr, Sir Peter J. Ratcliffe and Gregg L. Semenza “for their discoveries of how cells sense and adapt to oxygen availability.”
© The Nobel Committee for Physiology or Medicine. Ill. Mattias Karlén
The Nobel Prize in Literature for 2018 is awarded to the Polish author Olga Tokarczuk “for a narrative imagination that with encyclopedic passion represents the crossing of boundaries as a form of life.”
Ill. Niklas Elmehed. © Nobel Media.
The Nobel Prize in Literature 2019 was awarded to Peter Handke “for an influential work that with linguistic ingenuity has explored the periphery and the specificity of human experience.”
Ill. Niklas Elmehed. © Nobel Media.
The Nobel Peace Prize 2019 was awarded to Abiy Ahmed Ali “for his efforts to achieve peace and international cooperation, and in particular for his decisive initiative to resolve the border conflict with neighbouring Eritrea.”
Abiy Ahmed Ali.
Photo: Aron Simeneh, via Wikimedia Commons.
The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2019 was awarded jointly to Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer “for their experimental approach to alleviating global poverty.”
© Johan Jarnestad/The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
Alfred Nobel - Established the Nobel Prize
On 27 November 1895, Alfred Nobel signed his last will in Paris, France. The Swedish dynamite millionaire, who thought that his invention would end all wars, had now realised that it was a very deadly product. Wanting to make amends, he did what no man of such wealth had done before ...
On 10 December 1901 the first Nobel Prizes were awarded, in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature and peace. Read more about the first prizes.
Chemist, engineer and industrialist Alfred Nobel left 31 million SEK (today about 265 million dollar) to fund the Nobel Prizes. Read more about his life and work.
A new house for culture and science
The new center will be built at Slussen, with sweeping views of Stockholm harbour and the central city. For the past few years, Slussen has been undergoing a major renovation and reconfiguration. With its broad public activities, the Nobel Center will be an important piece of the puzzle in developing Slussen into a lively meeting place.
Slussen aerial
Image: Dbox/Foster and partner.
What are you looking for? Search the website.
Nobel destinations
Stockholm, Sweden
The museum showcases the discoveries and creativity of the Nobel Laureates.
Photo: Åke Eson Lindman
Oslo, Norway
The story of each Peace Laureate is told at the museum.
Photo: Johannes Granseth / Nobel Peace Center
In memoriam
Theoretical physicists Philip W. Anderson has passed away aged 96. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for fundamental theoretical investigations of the electronic structure of magnetic and disordered systems.
Betty Williams died on 17 March, age 76. She shared the 1976 Nobel Peace Prize with Mairead Corrigan for founding a peace organisation to bring an end to the bitter conflict between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland.
Medicine Laureate Stanley Cohen passed away on 5 February. He shared the 1986 Medicine Prize for "discoveries of growth factors", discoveries which are of fundamental importance for our understanding of the mechanisms which regulate cell and organ growth.
Kary B. Mullis was awarded the 1993 Chemistry Prize for his invention of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method. PCR has been of major importance in both medical research and forensic science.
