How are the Nobel Prize laureates selected?
January is the last month of the year to submit candidates for the 2026 Nobel Prizes. After receiving all nominations, the Nobel Committees of the four prize-awarding institutions are responsible for the selection of the candidates.
Find out more about the nomination process in the video.
The first design of the Nobel Center project is here – a public building in Stockholm, Sweden for science, literature and peace. It will be an international symbol of knowledge, focusing on the Nobel Prize laureates’ stories and groundbreaking achievements. Read more about the project.
Aerial view along the waterfront.
© Onirism/Nobel Prize Outreach
Kailash Satyarthi and the 2014 Nobel Prize laureates.
© Nobel Media, Photo: Alexander Mahmoud
This year’s laureates conducted experiments with an electrical circuit in which they demonstrated both quantum mechanical tunnelling and quantised energy levels in a system big enough to be held in the hand.
The 2025 chemistry laureates have created molecular constructions with large spaces through which gases and other chemicals can flow.
The laureates made groundbreaking discoveries concerning peripheral immune tolerance that prevents the immune system from harming the body.
The Nobel Prize in Literature 2025 is awarded to the Hungarian author László Krasznahorkai, “for his compelling and visionary oeuvre that, in the midst of apocalyptic terror, reaffirms the power of art”.
As the leader of the democracy movement in Venezuela, Maria Corina Machado is one of the most extraordinary examples of civilian courage in Latin America in recent times.
This year’s laureates in economic sciences explain how innovation provides the impetus for further progress.
One-minute crash course
How much do you know about the achievements awarded the 2025 Nobel Prizes? Take our one-minute crash course on each of this year’s Nobel Prizes and laureates.
Hamilton O. Smith died on 25 October 2025, aged 94. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1978 “for the discovery of restriction enzymes and their application to problems of molecular genetics.”
Louis Brus died on 11 January 2026 in New York, USA, aged 82. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2023 “for the discovery and synthesis of quantum dots.”
James Watson died on 6 November 2025 in East Northport, New York, USA, aged 97. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1962 “for their discoveries concerning the molecular structure of nucleic acids and its significance for information transfer in living material.”
Chen Ning Yang passed away on 18 October 2025 in Beijing, China, aged 103. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics 1957 “for their penetrating investigation of the so-called parity laws which has led to important discoveries regarding the elementary particles.”
