The Nobel Prize is a set of annual international awards bestowed in several categories by Swedish and Norwegian committees in recognition of academic, cultural, or scientific advances. The awards were established in accordance with the wishes of Alfred Nobel, a Swedish chemist and engineer who invented dynamite and left a large portion of his fortune to establish the prizes.
The Nobel Prizes are awarded in the fields of Physics, Chemistry, Medicine, Literature, Peace, and Economics. The Nobel Prizes are considered the most prestigious awards in the world, and winning one is often considered the pinnacle of achievement in the respective field.
Each Nobel Prize is awarded by a separate committee, with the exception of the Prize in Economic Sciences, which is awarded by the Swedish National Bank in memory of Alfred Nobel. The awards are presented annually on December 10th, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel's death, at ceremonies in Stockholm, Sweden, and Oslo, Norway.
Alfred Nobel had a vision of a better world. He believed that people are capable of helping to improve society through knowledge, science and humanism. This is why he created a prize that would reward the discoveries that have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind. Since 1901, the Nobel Prize has been awarded in the fields of physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature and peace, while a memorial prize in economic sciences was added in 1968.
The economic foundations for the Nobel Prize were laid in 1895 when Alfred Nobel signed his last will and left much of his wealth to the establishment of a prize and the subsequent Nobel Foundation, which is tasked with a mission to manage his fortune and has ultimate responsibility for fulfilling the intentions of Nobel’s will. In accordance with the instructions, Nobel left through his will, and various independent prize-awarding institutions have selected Nobel Laureates in each prize category for more than a century.
Today, there are also several outreach organizations and activities that have been developed to inspire generations and disseminate knowledge about the Nobel Prize through events, exhibitions, educational efforts and digital outreach.
www.nobelprize.org - 1216 - Nobel Prize
