The exciting Nobel Prize season has arrived! Each October, distinguished committees in Sweden and Norway announce the laureates across a range of fields, from groundbreaking science and literature to economics and vital peace work. A total of six prestigious prizes are set to be awarded.
Winners will receive their esteemed Nobel Prize medals and diplomas in Stockholm this December.
Here’s a quick overview of this year’s awards:
A Nobel Prize medal, symbolizing global recognition, is displayed at the National Library of Colombia in Bogota.
Understanding the Nobel Prizes
Six Nobel Prizes are bestowed annually, each honoring an individual or an organization for their monumental contributions in a specific area. These coveted awards recognize excellence in physiology or medicine, physics, chemistry, economic science, literature, and peace work. The Nobel Peace Prize, in particular, often garners significant global attention due to the renowned individuals and groups nominated.
For 2025, there are 338 candidates for the Nobel Peace Prize, comprising 244 individuals and 94 organizations, as confirmed by the Nobel committee. This is an increase from last year’s 286 nominations, though still shy of the record 376 candidates in 2016. (Learn more about how those nominations work.)
Past Nobel Peace Prize recipients include Kailash Satyarthi and Malala Yousafzai (2014); President Barack Obama (2009); Nelson Mandela and F.W. de Klerk (1993); the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso (1989); and Mother Teresa (1979).
The committee meeting room at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo features photo portraits of all individual laureates and the logos of all prizewinning institutions and organizations.
When Are the Awards Announced?
One prize will be revealed each day from October 6 to 10, with a final announcement on October 13, typically between 5 a.m. and 7 a.m. Eastern time. The announcements are primarily made from Oslo and Stockholm and are streamed live on the official digital channels of the Nobel Prize organization.
The award for physiology or medicine was announced on Monday, recognizing Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell, and Shimon Sakaguchi for their pivotal discoveries related to peripheral immune tolerance.
The award for physics will be announced on Tuesday.
The award for chemistry will be announced on Wednesday.
The award for literature will be announced on Thursday.
The award for peace work will be announced on Friday.
The award for economic sciences will be announced on October 13.
What Do Laureates Receive?
Nobel Prize laureates are honored with a prestigious diploma, a specially designed medal, and a document outlining the Nobel Prize amount. This year, the prize money is set at 11 million Swedish kronor, which translates to approximately $1.17 million at current exchange rates.
Malala Yousafzai was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014.
Who Were Last Year’s Recipients?
Among the notable winners from last year were scientists John J. Hopfield and Geoffrey E. Hinton, who received the Nobel Prize in Physics. Their discoveries significantly advanced how computers learn, mirroring the human brain, and laid the groundwork for modern artificial intelligence.
The Nobel Peace Prize in 2024 was bestowed upon Nihon Hidankyo, a Japanese organization dedicated for over five decades to global nuclear disarmament. Beyond their advocacy at the United Nations and other international peace gatherings, the organization has meticulously gathered and shared thousands of testimonies from survivors of the 1945 atomic bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
A complete list of 2024 winners is available.