The official website of the Nobel Prize

Nobel Prize in Chemistry

Six days – six prizes

“The captain came to me and told me that I got the prize.”

On 16 October 1991 Richard Ernst was on a flight from Moscow to New York when the flight’s captain came over to deliver some news. Ernst had been awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

“Then I had to go to the cockpit. I was speaking with Swiss radio, with my family… It was quite interesting!” Ernst said.

Ernst was awarded the Nobel Prize for his contributions to the development of high resolution nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy.

Who did what?

How many chemistry laureates can you match?

Can you match the right chemistry laureate with the right discovery? Have a try!

Featured Nobel Prize laureates in chemistry

Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2020

Emmanuelle Charpentier

What do you need in order to become a scientist? How do you become creative? How is a scientist’s life affected by being awarded prizes? Meet 2020 chemistry laureate Emmanuelle Charpentier in an intimate and reflective podcast conversation

Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2006

Fraser Stoddart

During his career, Fraser Stoddart has broken rules and, on occasions, upset the research establishment. His journey started outside Edinburgh, Scotland, where he spent his early years working at the family farm, feeding the animals and later mending farm machinery.

Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1995

Sherwood Rowland

In 1973 the two scientists Sherwood Rowland and Mario Molina made the important discovery that the ozone layer was continually depleted. Listen to chemistry laureate Sherwood Rowland telling his story.

Nobel Prize announcements

2021 Nobel Prize Announcements

This year’s Nobel Prize announcements will take place 4-11 October. See the full schedule.

The Nobel Prize call

I think it's a shock

Surprised, overwhelmed, terrified, happy. How would you react if you suddenly heard that you had been awarded the Nobel Prize? Here, six laureates share their stories.

More about the ‘Nobel Prize call’

Explore prizes and laureates

All Nobel Prizes and laureates

Between 1901 and 2020, the Nobel Prizes and the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel were awarded 603 times to 962 people and organizations. See the full list here.

The 2009 Nobel Laureates stand for the Swedish national anthem — The 2009 Nobel Prize laureates

© The Nobel Foundation 2009, Photo: Frida Westholm

Watch the documentary series

Five documentaries inspired by the Nobel Peace Prize

A team of female Yazidi deminers in Iraq attempting to clear their land of mines left behind by ISIS. A team of scientists on an extraordinary mission in Mozambique to help better our understanding of climate change. A man building prosthetic legs to help victims of war walk again in South Sudan … All are inspired by Nobel Peace Prize laureates.

Nobel Prize nominations

Who can nominate for a Nobel Prize?

No person can nominate herself/himself for a Nobel Prize. But who can? And how are these persons chosen?

Jane Addams nomination for Carl von Ossietzky

Who selects the laureates?

In his last will and testament, Alfred Nobel specifically designated the institutions responsible for the prizes he wished to be established.

Explore the nomination archive

Search among the names of the nominees and nominators, as well as additional information about the nominations 1901-1966.

Mahatma Gandhi – The missing laureate

Mohandas Gandhi has become the strongest symbol of non-violence in the 20th century. He was nominated several times, but was never awarded the prize. Why?

Play a game!

Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1930

The Blood Typing Game

Learn more about blood groups in the blood typing game! The game helps you understand how blood groups work.

Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1904

Pavlov's Dog

In this game you can train a dog to drool on command! It’s all about conditioned learning.

Nobel Prize Concert 2021

Cellist Sol Gabetta soloist at the Nobel Prize Concert

Acclaimed Argentina-born cellist Sol Gabetta will be performing at this year’s Nobel Prize Concert on 8 December.u003cbru003eu003cbru003eThe Nobel Prize Concert is an annual concert which is part of the Nobel Week official programme celebrating that year’s Nobel Prize laureates.

Sol Gabetta 2018 photo julia wesely — Cellist Sol Gabetta

© Julia Wesely

Nobel Prizes 2020

Black holes and the Milky Way’s darkest secret

The Nobel Prize in Physics 2020 was awarded with one half to Roger Penrose “for the discovery that black hole formation is a robust prediction of the general theory of relativity” and the other half jointly to Reinhard Genzel and Andrea Ghez “for the discovery of a supermassive compact object at the centre of our galaxy”.

© Johan Jarnestad/The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences

Genetic scissors: a tool for rewriting the code of life

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2020 was awarded to Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer A. Doudna “for the development of a method for genome editing”.

Hepatitis – a global threat to human health

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2020 was awarded jointly to Harvey J. Alter, Michael Houghton and Charles M. Rice “for the discovery of Hepatitis C virus”.

© The Nobel Committee for Physiology or Medicine. Ill. Mattias Karlén

A prominent poet in American contemporary literature

The Nobel Prize in Literature 2020 was awarded to the American poet Louise Glück “for her unmistakable poetic voice that with austere beauty makes individual existence universal”.

Combatting the threat of hunger

The Nobel Peace Prize 2020 was awarded to the World Food Programme (WFP) for its efforts to combat hunger, for its contribution to bettering conditions for peace in conflict-affected areas and for acting as a driving force in efforts to prevent the use of hunger as a weapon of war and conflict.

The quest for the perfect auction

The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2020 was awarded to Paul R. Milgrom and Robert B. Wilson “for improvements to auction theory and inventions of new auction formats”.

Alfred Nobel – Established the Nobel Prize

Alfred Nobel's last will

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 …

The very first Nobel Prizes

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.

The first Nobel Prize Award Ceremony was held in 1901 at the Royal Academy of Music, Stockholm.

Alfred Nobel – scientist and inventor

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.

Nobel destinations

Stockholm, Sweden

Nobel Prize Museum

The Nobel Prize: Ideas Changing the World (3) — The museum showcases the discoveries and creativity of the Nobel Laureates.

Photo: Åke Eson Lindman

Oslo, Norway

19 remarkable scientists and their stories

The City of The Future

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