Highlights from Nobel Week Lights

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A luminous light installation on Stadshuset, Stockholm
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Behind the scenes of Nobel Week

A glimpse into a memorable week

Ever wondered what Nobel Week is like? Each December, Nobel Prize laureates from all over the world gather in Stockholm and Oslo. In this article, we follow them during the hectic and unforgettable week.
Nobel Week from inside

Memories from Nobel Week

Solar glory

Turning nature’s wonder into physics

When standing on the summit of Scotland’s highest mountain Ben Nevis in 1894, C.T.R. Wilson was struck by the beauty of coronas and “glories.” He decided to imitate these natural phenomena in the laboratory.

130 years later, artist Uljana Baykevych celebrates Wilson’s Nobel Prize awarded discovery of the cloud chamber through an interactive installation in Stockholm.

Discover more about C.T.R. Wilson and the cloud chamber

Art installation showing solar ring

Solar Glory – an interactive light installation in Stockholm.

Courtesy of Uljana Baykevych

Watch the one-minute crash course

Book tips

Discover the works of Han Kang

What to read?

Curious about 2024 literature laureate Han Kang but unsure which of her books to pick up first? Here Steve Sem-Sandberg from the Swedish Academy gives his recommendations.

A collection of books

Books by Han Kang.

© Nobel Prize Outreach

Health and literature

Learn more about the Nobel Prizes 2024

Nobel Prize call – the 2024 laureates' first reactions

  • Literature laureate 2024

    Han Kang

    ”I’m so surprised and honoured.”

  • Chemistry laureate 2024

    Demis Hassabis

    “It’s just an unbelievable experience.”

  • Medicine laureate 2024

    Victor Ambros

    ”A celebration of the way of doing science.” 

Learn how to fold a paper crane

A symbol for the fight to abolish nuclear weapons

The Nobel Peace Prize 2024 is awarded to Nihon Hidankyo, an organisation of survivors from the 1945 atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The origami crane has become symbolic to their fight to abolish nuclear weapons.

Watch this tutorial to learn how to fold your own paper crane.

150 years since the birth of Winston Churchill

An unexpected Nobel Prize

Winston Churchill was one of the 20th century’s most prominent statesmen. However, the Nobel Prize awarded to him was in literature, “for his mastery of historical and biographical description as well as for brilliant oratory in defending exalted human values.” In the presentation speech at the award ceremony, the Swedish Academy pointed out: “Very seldom have great statesmen and warriors also been great writers.”

Discover more about the Nobel Prize in Literature 1953

Winston Churchill

Spotlight on insulin

  • Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1977

    Rosalyn Yalow

    Tracked insulin by injecting radioactive iodine into patients’ blood.

  • Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1958

    Frederick Sanger

    Studied the composition of the insulin molecule.

Discoveries through the ages

60 years ago

An eye for structure

Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin’s discoveries in biochemistry and medicine include the determination of the structure of penicillin.

Molecular model of penicillin by Dorothy Hodgkin, c.1945.

Photo: Science Museum London/Science and Society Picture Library [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

30 years ago

Game theory

John Nash was awarded the prize in economic sciences for his work in game theory, and more specifically for his “Nash equilibrium theory”. 

Chess

Photo: Alexander Mahmoud

10 years ago

An inner GPS

Learn about the discovery of “grid cells” that generate a coordinate system and allow for precise positioning and pathfinding.

Neuron

Geir Mogen/Kavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience

Delve deeper

Mahatma Gandhi – The missing laureate

Mohandas Gandhi (1869-1948) has become the strongest symbol of non-violence in the 20th century. It is widely held – in retrospect – that the Indian national leader should have been selected for the Nobel Peace Prize. He was nominated several times, but was never awarded the prize. Why?

Mahatma Gandhi laughing

Mahatma Gandhi laughing.

Photo: Public domain.

Women who changed science

19 remarkable scientists and their stories

Explore the contributions, careers and lives of 19 women who have been awarded Nobel Prizes for their scientific achievements.
Explore 'Women who changed science'

Watch the documentary series

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.

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