Douglass C. North, awarded the 1993 Prize in Economic Sciences, passed away on 23 November. He shed new light on the economic development in Europe and the United States before and in connection with the industrial revolution, and emphasized the role of property rights and institutions.
Biography of Douglass C. North
On 27 November 1895, Alfred Nobel signed his last will in Paris, France. The Swedish dynamite millionaire, who thought that his invention would end all wars, had now realised that it was a very deadly product. Wanting to make amends, he did what no man of such wealth had done before.
In his will he outlined the plans for his fortune: it should be divided into five parts to be used for Prizes in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature and Peace to "those who, during the preceding year, shall have conferred the greatest benefit to mankind."
The new Nobel Laureates take center stage on 10 December in Stockholm and Oslo, where two women, eight men; and one organization will receive their Nobel Prizes, and enjoy the Nobel Banquets afterwards.
Programme for the Nobel Week
According to the Statutes of the Nobel Foundation, each Nobel Laureate shall be presented with a Nobel Medal.
See how the Nobel Medals are manufactured
Flowers from the city of Sanremo in Italy, where Alfred Nobel spent his last years, decorate the festivities in the Stockholm Concert Hall and the City Hall each year.
Watch a short video about the work with floral decorations
The tables at the Nobel Banquet in the Stockholm City Hall are set with meticulous precision and care and comprise no fewer than some 7,000 porcelain pieces.
Watch a short video about the Nobel Banquet preparations
- What is intelligence?
- What sorts of intelligence do we need to meet future challenges?
- Does technology change our brains?
On 9 December, Nobel Laureates, world-leading scientists, policy makers and the general public will join in an inspiring Nobel Week Dialogue, this year in Gothenberg. The event will be stremed live at Nobelprize.org.
Franz Welser-Möst conducting. Credit: Roger Mastroianni.
One of today's most celebrated conductors, Franz Welser-Möst, will lead the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra at the concert on 9 December. Soloist is the young pianist Daniil Trifonov.
More about the concert
Ill: © Johan Jarnestad/The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
The Nobel Prize in Physics 2015 was awarded jointly to Takaaki Kajita and Arthur B. McDonald "for the discovery of neutrino oscillations, which shows that neutrinos have mass".
Read more about the prize
Ill: © Johan Jarnestad/The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2015 was awarded jointly to Tomas Lindahl, Paul Modrich and Aziz Sancar "for mechanistic studies of DNA repair".
Read more about the prize
Ill: M. Karlén/The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2015 was awarded with one half jointly to William C. Campbell and Satoshi Ōmura "for their discoveries concerning a novel therapy against infections caused by roundworm parasites" and the other half to Youyou Tu "for her discoveries concerning a novel therapy against Malaria".
Read more about the prize
Advanced information (pdf)
Photo: Margarita Kabakova/Ersatz AB.
The Nobel Prize in Literature for 2015 is awarded to the Belarusian author Svetlana Alexievich "for her polyphonic writings, a monument to suffering and courage in our time".
Press release
The 2015 Nobel Peace Prize is awarded to the Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet "for its decisive contribution to the building of a pluralistic democracy in Tunisia in the wake of the Jasmine Revolution of 2011".
Read more about the prize
Ill: © Johan Jarnestad/The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2015 was awarded to Angus Deaton "for his analysis of consumption, poverty, and welfare".
Read more about the prize
Chemist, engineer and industrialist Alfred Nobel left 31 million SEK (today about 265 million dollar) to fund the Nobel Prizes.
Alfred Nobel's life and work
An entirely new industry grew up, based on Alfred Nobel's patents and with Alfred as the initiator.
Alfred Nobel's dynamite companies
In his will of 27 November 1895 signed in Paris, Alfred Nobel specified that the bulk of his fortune should be used for prizes.
Excerpt of Alfred Nobel's will
See all the Nobel Laureates and why they were awarded the Nobel Prize.
Jean-Paul Sartre and Le Duc Tho both declined the Nobel Prize.
More about the Literature Prize to Jean-Paul Sartre
Alfred Nobel wanted most of his fortune to be used for prizes to award those who had "conferred the greatest benefit to mankind". See who Nobelprize.org's visitors thought were worthy of a Nobel Prize.
Read the suggestions
No person can nominate herself/himself for a Nobel Prize. But who can? And how are these persons chosen?
Read more about how the Nobel Laureates are nominated
Search among the names of the nominees and nominators, as well as additional information about the nominations 1901-1964.
Search in the archive
Here you can discover the individuals who have nominated others for a Nobel Prize, those who were nominated for a Nobel Prize and those who later became Nobel Laureates.
Explore the map
Richard F. Heck, awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2010 "for palladium-catalyzed cross couplings in organic synthesis", passed away on 9 October, 84 years old.
Biography of Richard F. Heck
Yoichiro Nambu, awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics 2008 for the discovery of the mechanism of spontaneous broken symmetry in subatomic physics, passed away on 5 July, 94 years old.
Biography
Irwin Rose, 2004 Chemistry Laureate, died on 2 June, 88 years old. His research made it possible to understand at molecular level how the cell controls a number of central processes by breaking down certain proteins and not others.
Biography
John F. Nash Jr., awarded the 1994 Prize in Economic Sciences together with John C. Harsanyi and Reinhard Selten for "pioneering analysis of equilibria in the theory of non-cooperative games", died on 23 May in a car crash, 86 years old.
Biography of John F. Nash Jr.
