How to become Nobel laureate, History of Nobel prize

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3. HISTORY OF NOBEL PRIZE
• The Nobel Prize is a set of annual international awards
bestowed in a number of categories by Swedish and
Norwegian institutions in recognition of academic, cultural,
and/or scientific advances.
• The will of the Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel established the
prizes in 1895. The prizes in Chemistry, Literature, Peace,
Physics, and Physiology or Medicine were first awarded in
1901.The related Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic
Sciences was established by Sweden's central bank in 1968.
Medals made before 1980 were struck in 23 carat gold, and
later from 18 carat green gold plated with a 24 carat gold
coating. Between 1901 and 2015, the Nobel Prizes and the
Prize in Economic Sciences were awarded 573 times to 900
people and organizations. With some receiving the Nobel
Prize more than once, this makes a total of 870 individuals
822 men and 48 women and 23 organizations.

4. HOW TO BECOME A NOBEL LAUREATE?
We can’t nominate ourself for a Nobel Prize—
someone else has to do it for you. We must be alive
at the time of our nomination (more on that later). If
you are nominated, you’ll likely never know unless
you win. There are more than 200 initial nominees
for the various awards each year, a number that is
narrowed down by a selection committee to a
shortlist (usually three to five people or
organizations). The names of the initial nominees, as
well as those shortlisted, are kept secret for 50 years,
in part to prevent lobbying on the behalf of
nominees.

5. Alfred Bernhard Nobel was born on 21 October 1833 in
Stockholm, Sweden, into a family of engineers. He was
a chemist, engineer, and inventor. Alfred Nobel was the
third son of Immanuel Nobel (1801–1872), an inventor
and engineer, and Carolina Andriette (Ahlsell) Nobel
(1805–1889).Immanuel married in 1827 and had eight
children.

6. Alfred Nobel’s will stipulated the creation of just five
awards: physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine,
literature and peace. However, since 1969, a sixth award
has been handed out. In honouring achievements in
economic studies known as the “Bank of Sweden Prize in
Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel,” the
award recipients are chosen by the Swedish Academy of
Sciences who also select the prizes in chemistry and
physics. Recipients receive their awards at the same
December ceremony.

7. Between 1901 and 2012, 863 people (or
organizations) have been awarded either a Nobel
Prize or Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences,
and fewer than 50 of those awards have gone to
women. Women have had the most success with the
peace prize, receiving the award 15 times, followed
by 12 awards in literature (including American
authors Pearl Buck and Toni Morrison), and 10 in
physiology or medicine. However, they have not
fared nearly as well in economics, physics or
chemistry, winning just seven awards in those three
categories combined—and two of those were won by
Marie Curie in the early 20th century.

8. • Beginning in 1937, Indian leader Mohandas Gandhi was
nominated for the award five times. His final nomination
came just weeks after his assassination in January 1948.
• In 1961, Dag Hammarskjöld, Secretary-General of the United
Nations, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, even though he
had died in a plane crash earlier that year.
• When the Dalai Lama was awarded the peace prize in 1989,
he announced that he was accepting the award, in part, as a
tribute to Gandhi. And, in 2006, more than 50 years after
Gandhi’s death, the Nobel Committee itself publicly
acknowledged the omission, expressing regret that Gandhi
had never been awarded the prize.

10. There are 376 candidates for the Nobel Peace Prize for 2016 out of
which 228 are individuals and 148 are organizations.
376 is by far the highest number of candidates ever. The previous
record, 278 candidates, was set in 2014.
In order to remain open to the various ways in which the qualities of a
candidate may be conveyed, the Norwegian Nobel Committee has not
introduced a special nomination submission form. The nomination need
not be lengthy, but should include:
• the name of the candidate,
• an explanation of why the individual or organisation is considered by
the nominator to be a worthy candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize,
• and the name, title and academic or professional affiliation of the
nominator.

14. Submission
Methods
,Common ways
of submitting
nominations
are
E-mail:
postmaster@no
bel.no
or post:
The Norwegian Nobel
Committee
Henrik Ibsens gate 51
0255 Oslo, NORWAY