Hero Nobel will quote

Nobel Prize awarded work

Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1964

”Captured for life by chemistry and by crystals”

“Captured for life by chemistry and by crystals,” as she described it, Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin turned a childhood interest in crystals into the ground-breaking use of X-ray crystallography to “see” the molecules of penicillin, vitamin B12 and insulin. Her work not only allowed researchers to better understand and manufacture life-saving substances, it also made crystallography an indispensable scientific tool.
Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin

Photo from the Nobel Foundation archive.

Nobel Prize awarded discoveries

Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1902

”I had failed entirely to find the true parasite at all”

Army surgeon Ronald Ross discovered the parasite causing malaria and the link between mosquitoes and malaria transmission. His Nobel Prize lecture is a fascinating story of examining and observing an endless number of mosquitoes in the hunt for the malaria parasite.
Ronald Ross

Photo from the Nobel Foundation archive.

Nobel Peace Prize awarded work

Nobel Peace Prize 1917, 1944 and 1963

Triple Nobel Peace Prizes

The International Committee of the Red Cross has a unique position in the history of the Nobel Peace Prize: no recipient has been awarded the peace prize as often as this organisation. World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day is celebrated annually on the birthday of Henry Dunant, the founder of the organisation, but it all began in Solferino 1859 …

Red Cross - Armband

Armlet for the Red Cross.

Photo: Nobel Prize Museum

Nobel Peace Prize 1901

Henry Dunant – a man with a great vision

The first Nobel Peace Prize ever was awarded half to Henry Dunant and half to Frédéric Passy for their peace work. Henry Dunant, the founder of the Red Cross, was born into a wealthy home, but he died alone in a hospice. He never ceased to work for peace and against the taking up of arms.

Henry Dunant

Photo from the Nobel Foundation archive.

All Nobel Peace Prizes and laureates

Peace was the fifth and final prize area that Alfred Nobel outlined in his will.


See all Nobel Peace Prize laureates and why they were awarded the prize.

Kofi Annan receiving his Nobel Peace Prize

Kofi Annan receiving his Nobel Peace Prize from Gunnar Berge, Chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee.

© Pressens Bild AB 2001.

Watch a documentary

Nobel Peace Prize 1917, 1944 and 1963

“Losing a leg made me view myself as the least valuable person in the world”

In 1998, Makur Diet in war-damaged South Sudan lost his leg to a bullet. Despairing for his future, he was close to committing suicide, until he was given a prosthetic leg. Makur realised that he now had a chance to do something good in the world and decided to devote his life to helping other amputees. At a Red Cross (ICRC) centre in South Sudan, Makur makes prosthetic legs and gives hope to other persons who have lost a limb. He is helping to rebuild his country, one leg at a time.

Creating our future together with science

Nobel Prize Dialogue

Serge Haroche: ”Scientists are more like explorers”

Nobel Prize laureates Serge Haroche, David MacMillan and May-Britt Moser delve into the essence of creativity in science. In this discussion they explore how scientists are akin to explorers, envisioning a world beyond what we know.

Watch more discussions and panel talks from Nobel Prize Dialogue in São Paulo, Brazil.

Questions and answers

What are the Nobel Prize categories?

The Nobel Prize categories are physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature and peace and were laid out in the will of Alfred Nobel. Find out more in the FAQ.
The Nobel Prize medal.

The Nobel Prize medal.

© Nobel Prize Outreach. Photo: Clément Morin.

Recently published

News

Nobel Prizes 2023

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2023

Vaccine development

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2023 was awarded jointly to Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman “for their discoveries concerning nucleoside base modifications that enabled the development of effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19.”
A blue background with COVID-19 virus and a yellow strand of modified mRNA. Also shown is the chemical structure of pseudouridine, an RNA base that was important in the prize-awarded discovery. The graphic represents the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine awarded to Katalin Karinkó and Drew Weissman who received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their discoveries concerning nucleoside base modifications that enabled the development of effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19.

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

Watch Nobel Minds

2023 Nobel Prize laureates in discussion

Watch the laureates in a discussion about their discoveries and achievements, and how these might find a practical application. Nobel Minds is hosted by the BBC’s Zeinab Badawi.
Nobel Minds 2023

Nobel Minds 2023.

© Nobel Prize Outreach. Photo: Clément Morin.

2023 Nobel Prizes

Crash course – 2023 Nobel Prizes

How much do you know about the discoveries awarded the 2023 Nobel Prizes? Take our one-minute crash course on each of the prizes and find out how each have changed our world.
Students with illustrations behind.

Nobel Prize lessons

Easy to use lessons about the 2023 Nobel Prizes

From nanotechnology to the development of effective mRNA vaccines. Now you can bring the discoveries and achievements made by the 2023 Nobel Prize laureates into the classroom.

The lessons are free and easy to use. They include a slideshow, manuscript and student worksheet.
Illustration of all 2023 Nobel Prizes

© Johan Jarnestad/The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, © The Nobel Committe for Physiology or Medicine. Ill. Mattias Karlén, Ill. Niklas Elmehed © Nobel Prize Outreach

Alfred Nobel – Established the Nobel Prizes

Scientist and inventor

Chemist, engineer and industrialist Alfred Nobel left 31 million SEK (today about 342 million dollars) to fund the Nobel Prizes.

A bust of Alfred Nobel, surrounded by a beautiful wall of flowers

Alfred Nobel's early years

When Alfred was five years old his father Immanuel, an inventor and builder, moved to St. Petersburg. Alfred joined him a few years later.

Alfred Nobel 1853

Inventing dynamite

Based on Alfred’s work and patents a whole new industry developed. Within ten years, 16 explosives producing factories had been founded in 14 countries.

Nobels Dynamite 10 Nov 1906

A controversial will

In his will of 27 November 1895, signed in Paris, Alfred Nobel specified that the bulk of his fortune should be used for prizes.

Alfred Nobel Will

Play a game!

Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1930

The Blood Typing Game

How much do you know about blood types? Did you know that human blood groups were discovered by Nobel Prize laureate Karl Landsteiner in 1901?

Learn more about the way to find out about the human blood groups, blood typing and the importance of safe blood transfusions. See if you can save the lives of the patients in the game!
Blood typing game
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1904

Pavlov's Dog

Is it possible to train a dog to drool on command? Learn about conditioned reflexes in this interactive game!

With this animated game, teachers are able to illustrate classical conditioning in the classroom. The object of the game is to train Pavlov’s dog to respond to a signal that it will associate with being fed.

In 1904, Ivan Pavlov was awarded with Nobel Prize for his pioneering studies of how the digestive system works.
Pavlov's Dog Game

Peace Builders

Step into the shoes of a Nobel Peace Prize laureate and learn about the legacy of Alfred Nobel in this immersive learning experience from the Nobel Peace Center. All Minecraft players can now journey alongside Desmond Tutu, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Jody Williams and Carl von Ossietzky to bring their vision of a more democratic, peaceful world to life.
Minecraft peacebuilders

What are you looking for? Search the website.

Nobel destinations

Stockholm, Sweden

Nobel Prize Museum

The Nobel Prize Museum in Stockholm, Sweden, illustrates a century of creativity, where visitors can follow the changes of the 20th century through the Nobel Prize and the Nobel Prize laureates.
The Nobel Prize: Ideas Changing the World (3)

The museum showcases the discoveries and creativity of the Nobel Prize laureates.

Photo: Åke Eson Lindman

Oslo, Norway

Nobel Peace Center

Located in the heart of Oslo, Norway, the Nobel Peace Center is a place where you can experience and learn about the various Nobel Peace Prize laureates.
NPC Nye Nobels Hage 10

The story of each peace laureate is told at the museum.

Photo: Johannes Granseth/Nobel Peace Center

In memoriam

Herbert Kroemer 1928‒2024

Physicist Herbert Kroemer passed away on 8 March 2024, age 95. He was awarded the 2000 Nobel Prize in Physics for developing semiconductor heterostructures used in high-speed- and opto-electronics.

Biography
Herbert Kroemer

Daniel Kahneman passes away at 90

Daniel Kahneman passed away on 27 March, age 90. He was awarded the 2002 economic sciences prize for having integrated insights from psychological research into economic science, especially concerning human judgment and decision-making under uncertainty.

Biography
Daniel Kahneman

Neuroscientist Roger Guillemin dies

Roger Guillemin passade away on 21 February, age 100. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1977 for discoveries concerning the peptide hormone production of the brain.

Biography
Roger Guillemin