The Nobel Prizes are awarded by specific institutions based on Alfred Nobel’s recommendations. Nominees are kept secret and winners are recognized as nominees. The Peace Prize is awarded in Norway, while the others are awarded in Sweden.
When Alfred Nobel wrote his will in 1895, he made specific recommendations as to which bodies would select and vote for each of the Nobel Prizes. For the most part, these institutions continue to award Nobel Prizes based on Nobel’s recommendations.
No one can run for a Nobel Prize. In fact, such nominations involve immediate disqualification for a prize, at least in that year. Each body that determines Nobel Prize winners has its own discrete nomination and selection process.
The Nobel Prizes in chemistry and physics are awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. This group also awards the Nobel Prize in economics, although this prize is not part of Nobel’s initial intent and the prize money does not come from Nobel’s estate.
The entire Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences is not the voting body. Instead, the Academy invites illustrious personalities in the fields of chemistry, physics and economics to submit nominations. The nominees are then discussed in a report delivered to five Academy members who will ultimately vote and determine the awards. Voting can be split and in the past prizes have been awarded to more than one person.
Unlike other award ceremonies, the names of nominees who don’t win the award are not disclosed for 50 years. So one can be nominated without ever being aware of the nomination. Only Nobel Prize winners are recognized as nominees.
The nomination and voting process is nearly identical for Nobel Prizes awarded in medicine. However the determining body is the Karolinska Institute, a medical school near Stockholm, Sweden. Nominees are still kept secret and the vote is often split, with two people receiving Nobel prizes.
The Swedish Academy follows a similar process for determining Nobel Prize recipients in the field of literature. However, many feel that both the Peace Prize and the Literature Prize are far more subjective than those offered in science. Despite the controversy, the winners of the Nobel Prize in Literature come from different countries and, especially in the last 15 years, the winners of the prize represent many Asian and African countries.
Nobel Peace Prize winners go through a nomination and selection process administered by the Norwegian Nobel Committee. The Norwegian Nobel Committee is a group of five members selected by the Norwegian government. Unlike other Nobel laureates, the Peace Prize is always awarded to Oslo, Norway, not Stockholm, Sweden.
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