Sweden, Stockholm, October 12, 2023: This week marks the announcement of the Nobel Prize winners, shedding light on deserving thinkers and innovators across various fields. These prestigious awards, dating back to 1901, are intended for those who have “conferred the greatest benefit to humankind”, as stated by founder Alfred Nobel in his will.
When? What? Where?
The 2023 Nobel Prize announcements took place from October 2–9, 2023. All of their announcements were streamed live on their website, nobelprize.org. This year, the winners were announced for medicine or physiology, physics, chemistry, literature and peace.
Nobel Prizes: Introduction
The Nobel Foundation in Sweden organizes the Nobel Prizes annually, following the will of Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel. These prizes are considered the most prestigious awards, honouring individuals and organizations for their outstanding contributions to physics, chemistry, economics, medicine, literature, and peace.
From 1901–2022, 989 laureates, including organizations, have received Nobel Prizes, according to the website.
Nobel Prize Winners 2023
Monday, October 2, 2023: The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Hungarian-born scientist Katalin Kariko, 68, and American immunologist Drew Weissman, 64, “for their discoveries concerning nucleoside base modifications that enabled the development of effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19”. Their groundbreaking work on mRNA vaccines played a pivotal role in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020.
Tuesday, October 3, 2023: The Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Pierre Agostini, 82, Ferenc Krausz, 61, and Anne L’Huiller, 65, “for experimental methods that generate attosecond pulses of light for the study of electron dynamics in matter”. They provided humanity with new tools for exploring the world of electrons inside atoms and molecules by demonstrating a method to generate extremely short pulses of light, which can be used to measure the rapid processes involving electrons and their energy changes.
Wednesday, October 4, 2023: Moungi G. Bawendi, Louis E. Brus, and Alexei I. Ekimov were awarded in Chemistry “for the discovery and synthesis of quantum dots”. Chemistry laureates Louis Brus and Alexei Ekimov successfully created quantum dots, nanoparticles where quantum effects determine their characteristics, in the early 1980s. In 1993, Moungi Bawendi revolutionized the methods for manufacturing quantum dots, ensuring their high quality for their use in today’s nanotechnology.
Thursday, October 5, 2023: John Fosse, 60, a Norwegian playwright and dramatist, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. He was recognized by the Swedish Academy “for his innovative plays and prose, which gave voice to the unsayable”. Fosse has authored approximately 40 plays, as well as novels, short stories, children’s books, poetry, and essays.
Friday, October 6, 2023: The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the jailed Iranian rights activist Narges Mohammadi “for her fight against the oppression of women in Iran and her fight to promote human rights and freedom for all”. Mohammadi has endured multiple prison sentences over the past two decades for her relentless fight for the freedom and rights of Iranian women. She has been arrested thirteen times, convicted five times, and sentenced to a total of 31 years in prison and 104 lashes.
Monday, October 9, 2023: The final category, the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, was announced and awarded to Harvard professor Claudia Goldin. She received this honour for her extensive research on female labour force participation. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences presented her with the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences “for having advanced our understanding of women’s labour market outcomes”.Goldin’s research shows the increase in the proportion of women in paid work in many high-income countries over the past century and provides new and surprising insights into women’s historical and contemporary roles in the labour market.
This announcement, dated October 9, 2023, marks the conclusion of the highly anticipated, week-long series of award announcements across six distinct categories.
Edited by: Sri Soudamini Konka
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