The Nobel Prize

The Nobel Prize

What is the Nobel Prize and to whom is it awarded?

The Nobel Prize is an international award administered by the Nobel Foundation in Stockholm, Sweden. Since 1901, the Nobel Prize has been awarded to men and women from all corners of the globe for outstanding achievements in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, and for work in peace. In 1968, economic sciences was added to the list of fields.

Sveriges Riksbank established The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, founder of the Nobel Prize.

How the Nobel Prize got started and who founded it?

On 27 November 1895, a year before his death, Alfred Nobel signed the famous will which would implement some of the goals to which he had devoted so much of his life. Nobel stipulated in his will that most of his estate, more than SEK 31 million (today approximately SEK 1,702 million) should be converted into a fund and invested in “safe securities.”

The income from the investments was to be “distributed annually in the form of prizes to those who during the preceding year have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind.”

What does a Nobel Prize winner receive?

Each prize consists of a medal, personal diploma, and a cash award. The Nobel Prize amount for 2012 is set at Swedish kronor (SEK) 8.0 million per full Nobel Prize (1.2 million USD at the time of the 2012 Nobel Prize Announcement).