The Nobel Prize 2025: Everything you need to know

Poudre Press Staff
59 minutes ago
9 min read

On December 10th 2025 on the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death, the annual Nobel prizes were presented in Stockholm Sweden by the king of Sweden. This year they were awarded to 14 individuals in 6 separate categories, being Physics, Chemistry, Physiology & Medicine, Literature, Peace (which is awarded in a different location) and, the Economic Sciences (which is unique in its own way). The award winners are called Nobel laureates and this year there are 14 people who won.

Here how the Nobel prizes came to be.

On December 10 1896 Alfred Nobel died and in his will, he left the bulk of his fortune to the Nobel Foundation, which is the body responsible for awarding the Nobel prizes. In his will he spelled out 5 categories for these prizes to be awarded (the prize in economics came later), and he spelled out what bodies would present these prizes. He also designated that the interest accrued on his fortune (that had been put into a trust) would be divided among the 5 winners (once again the economics prize is unique) and the prize money was quite significant. The prize money in 2025 was 11 million Swedish kronor or roughly $1.18 Million (as of December 12th, 2025).

These prizes would be awarded to “those who, during the preceding year, shall have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind.” (Nobel and Gurnah). His goal was to honor the people who have made the greatest contribution every single year.

Here is a list of each of the prizes in order and the laureates (winners), and why they were selected for their prize, as well as any differences with the prize (prize in economics and the peace prize).

Up first is the prize in Physics which is awarded by the Swedish Royal Academy of Sciences. To begin they send out invites to qualified people to nominate potential laureates and in order to receive the invitation you must be a:

Swedish and foreign members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences;
Members of the Nobel Committee for Physics;
Nobel Prize laureates in physics;
Tenured professors in the Physical sciences at the universities and institutes of technology of Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Iceland and Norway, and Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm;
Holders of corresponding chairs in at least six universities or university colleges (normally, hundreds of universities) selected by the Academy of Sciences with a view to ensuring the appropriate distribution over the different countries and their seats of learning; and
Other scientists from whom the Academy may see fit to invite proposals.

This list is pulled directly from the Nobel website and represents the full list of people who can actually nominate people for prizes. Interestingly the laureate for physics can nominate people for chemistry and physics wheres laureate for chemistry can only nominate other laureate for chemistry (assuming they are otherwise qualified)

After the submissions are entered, they go through a lengthy process and after a majority vote in favor of a candidate they (the academy) announce the results. This year the prize was awarded to John Clark, a researcher at UC Berkeley, Michel H. Devoret who is primarily affiliated with Yale (as well as many other institutes), and John M. Martinis (who is primarily associated with the University of California (as well as multiple other institutions) for their “discovery of macroscopic quantum mechanical tunnelling and energy quantisation in an electric circuit” or in other words they proved that quantum mechanics were acting on Big (macroscopic) things.

Next is the prize in Chemistry which is awarded by the swedish academy of sciences and the nomination process is basically exactly the same as the physics prize except the people who can nominate are slightly different. And according to the Nobel website the list of people who can nominate for chemistry are:

Swedish and foreign members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences;
Members of the Nobel Committees for Chemistry and Physics;
Nobel Prize laureates in chemistry and physics;
Permanent professors in the sciences of Chemistry at the universities and institutes of technology of Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Iceland and Norway, and Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm;
Holders of corresponding chairs in at least six universities or university colleges selected by the Academy of Sciences with a view to ensuring the appropriate distribution over the different countries and their centers of learning; and
Other scientists from whom the Academy may see fit to invite proposals.

This is the full list provided by the Nobel foundation for people who can nominate people. And it should be noted that no one can nominate themselves

And this year the prize in chemistry was awarded to: Susumu Kitagawa( who is affiliated with Kyoto university in japan),Richard Robinson( who is affiliated with the university of melbourne in australia), and Omar M. Yaghi( who is affiliated with UC Berkeley) for their “development of metal–organic frameworks” which are specific types of crystals that have metal atoms on the corners and chains of carbons connecting them. Which allows chemists to make them do very specific things like capture CO₂, toxic gases and even make chemical reactions go faster.(Nobel Foundation) These applications make them very useful for chemists everywhere and even potentially combating climate change.

The third prize we will discuss is the prize in medicine or physiology.which is awarded by the Karolinska Institutet. Which then appoints the special nobel committee consisting of six members, a chair, a vice chair, a secretary general, and three regular members. They also have the same invite only nominations as the rest of the prizes.This year the nobel prize in medicine was awarded to Mary E. Bronkow( who is affiliated with The Institute for systems in Biology in Seattle), Fred Ramsdell ( who is affiliated with Sanoma Biotherapeutics located in San Francisco), and Shimon Sakaguchi( who is affiliated with Osaka university which is in Japan), For”their discoveries concerning peripheral immune tolerance” or in other words are their discoveries about how our body tells what are intruders from what are your own cells(Nobel Foundation)

The Fourth Prize which is in Literature is also subjected to the same nomination process as the rest but with once again different qualifiers for the people who can nominate the potential laureates. And the qualified people are:

Members of the Swedish Academy and of other academies, institutions and societies which are similar to it in construction and purpose;
Professors of literature and of linguistics at universities and university colleges;
Previous Nobel Prize laureates in literature;
Presidents of those societies of authors that are representative of the literary production in their respective countries

This is interesting as it doesn't require an invitation if a person falls into one of these categories they can just send in a nomination. As opposed to all other nominations and prize categories. And it should be noted that no one can nominate themselves

The organization that awards this prize is the Swedish academy who go through a secretive process and then decide on a winner. And this year that winner was László Krasznahorkai,”for his compelling and visionary oeuvre that, in the midst of apocalyptic terror, reaffirms the power of art” To reword this quote they awarded the prise for his complete collection or oeuvre or his literature which is compelling and visionary in “apocalyptic terror”

The fifth prize is the peace prize which is slightly different as it is awarded in Oslo, Norway by a Norwegian committee. This is significant as it is the only committee and prize awarded outside of Sweden, and no one really knows why Alfred Nobel decided to do that in his will, and it remains a mystery to this day. The prices for the peace prize is unique as you do not need to be invited to nominate someone for the peace prize. However it is not just a free for all the person needs to meet some standard pulling form the noble organizations website “a nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize is considered valid if it is submitted by a person who falls within one of the following categories…

Members of national assemblies and national governments (cabinet members/ministers) of sovereign states as well as current heads of state
Members of The International Court of Justice in The Hague and The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague
Members of l’Institut de Droit International
Members of the International Board of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom
University professors, professors emeriti and associate professors of history, social sciences, law, philosophy, theology, and religion; university rectors and university directors (or their equivalents); directors of peace research institutes and foreign policy institutes
Persons who have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
Members of the main board of directors or its equivalent of organizations that have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
Current and former members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee (proposals by current members of the Committee to be submitted no later than at the first meeting of the Committee after 1 February)
Former advisers to the Norwegian Nobel Committee”

You also cannot nominate yourself. After the nominations are in the Norwegian Nobel committee then decides the winners and then announces them at the same time as the rest of the prizes. This application process is one of the things that sets the peace prize apart. The second is that it is awarded by a non-Swedish committee and is awarded in separate location in Oslo Norway as opposed to Stockholm Sweden it is also awarded on the 10th of December in Oslo Norway as opposed to Stockholm Sweden. This year it was awarded to Maria Corina Machado, “for her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy”. Moore or less they have awarded it to her for her activism in Venezuela against the current oppressive Venezuelan government

The sixth and final prize is in economics and is awarded by the Swedish academy of science but the prize isn’t a Nobel prize. Why? Well it’s technically the “Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel” and was made in 1968 after the Swedish central bank of the Sveriges Riksbank ( they are the same entity) made a donation to the Nobel prize committee. However it should also be noted that the prize money that comes with all Nobel prizes is not paid by the Nobel association but rather by the bank. And for all intents and purposes it does function as a Nobel with the and it is presented in the same ceremony as the rest of the prizes (other than peace)

Swedish and foreign members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences;

Members of the Prize Committee for the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel;
Persons who have been awarded the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel;
Permanent professors in relevant subjects at the universities and colleges in Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Iceland and Norway;
Holders of corresponding chairs in at least six universities or colleges, selected for the relevant year by the Academy of Sciences with a view to ensuring the appropriate distribution between different countries and their seats of learning; and
Other scientists from whom the Academy may see fit to invite proposals.

And that is the full list of people who can nominate for economics. From the Nobel foundation's website. And once again no one can nominate themselves was awarded to Joel Mokyr( affiliated with northwester university as well as multiple other organizations), Philippe Aghion (affiliated with the Collège de France, in Paris France as well as multiple other organizations) and Peter Howitt ( who is affiliated with Brown university as well as multiple other organizations), “for the theory of sustained growth through creative destruction”.

Works Cited

Nobel, Alfred, and Abdulrazak Gurnah. “About the Nobel Prize - NobelPrize.org.” Nobel Prize, 10 December 2023, https://www.nobelprize.org/about-the-nobel-prize/. Accessed 19 December 2025.

Nobel Foundation. “Michel H. Devoret – Facts – 2025 - NobelPrize.org.” Nobel Prize, Unknown, https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/2025/devoret/facts/. Accessed 19 December 2025.

Nobel Foundation. “The Nobel Committee for Physiology or Medicine - NobelPrize.org.” Nobel Prize, Unknown, https://www.nobelprize.org/about/the-nobel-committee-for-physiology-or-medicine/. Accessed 19 December 2025.

Nobel Foundation. “NobelPrize.org.” NobelPrize.org, Unknown, https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/. Accessed 19 December 2025.

Nobel Foundation. “NobelPrize.org.” NobelPrize.org, Unknown, https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/. Accessed 19 December 2025.

Nobel Foundation. “Nomination and selection of chemistry laureates - NobelPrize.org.” Nobel Prize, Unknown, https://www.nobelprize.org/nomination/chemistry/. Accessed 19 December 2025.

Nobel Foundation. “Nomination and selection of economic sciences laureates - NobelPrize.org.” Nobel Prize, Unknown, https://www.nobelprize.org/nomination/economic-sciences/. Accessed 19 December 2025.

Nobel Foundation. “Nomination and selection of literature laureates - NobelPrize.org.” Nobel Prize, Unknown, https://www.nobelprize.org/nomination/literature/. Accessed 19 December 2025.

Nobel Foundation. “Nomination and selection of Nobel Peace Prize laureates - NobelPrize.org.” Nobel Prize, Unknown, https://www.nobelprize.org/nomination/peace/. Accessed 19 December 2025.

Nobel Foundation. “Nomination and selection of physics laureates - NobelPrize.org.” Nobel Prize, Unknown, https://www.nobelprize.org/nomination/physics/. Accessed 19 December 2025.

Nobel Foundation. “The Norwegian Nobel Committee - NobelPrize.org.” Nobel Prize, Unknown, https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/about/the-norwegian-nobel-committee/. Accessed 19 December 2025.

Nobel Foundation. “The Norwegian Nobel Committee - NobelPrize.org.” Nobel Prize, Unknown, https://www.nobelprize.org/about/the-norwegian-nobel-committee/. Accessed 19 December 2025.

Nobel Foundation. “Press release: Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2025.” Nobel Prize, 8 October 2025, https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/2025/press-release/. Accessed 19 December 2025.

Nobel Foundation. “Prize in Economic Sciences 2025 - Press release - NobelPrize.org.” Nobel Prize, 13 October 2025, https://www.nobelprize.oreconomic-sciences/2025/press-release/. Accessed 19 December 2025.g/prizes/

The Nobel Prize 2025: Everything you need to know

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