Every October, committees in Sweden and Norway name laureates in a variety of prizes related to science, literature and economics, as well as for work in world peace.
Six Nobel Prizes are awarded every year, each recognising an individual’s or an organisation’s groundbreaking contribution in a specific field. Prizes are given for physiology or medicine, physics, chemistry, economic science, literature and peace work, the last of which often draws the most attention because of the fame of the people and groups nominated.
In his will, Alfred Nobel left much of his wealth to establish the Nobel Prizes, awarded to those who had “conferred the greatest benefit to humankind.”
Nobel Prize laureates receive a diploma, a medal and a document detailing the Nobel Prize amount, which in 2025 is 11 million Swedish kronor, or about $1.2 million in current exchange rates. Laureates will receive their medals and diplomas in Stockholm in December.
Shared prizes
According to the statutes of the Nobel Foundation, the prize amount can be divided by a maximum number of three individuals. The statutes of the Nobel Foundation says: “A prize amount may be equally divided between two works, each of which is considered to merit a prize. If a work that is being rewarded has been produced by two or three persons, the prize shall be awarded to them jointly. In no case may a prize amount be divided between more than three persons.”
Last week, 14 new Nobel Prize laureates were announced in the six categories. The 2025 laureates’ work and discoveries range from quantum tunnelling to promoting democratic rights.
2025 physics prize
This year’s Nobel Prize laureates for physics, John Clarke, Michel H. Devoret and John M. Martinis conducted experiments with an electrical circuit in which they demonstrated both quantum mechanical tunnelling and quantised energy levels in a system big enough to be held in the hand.
The Nobel Prize in Physics 2025 has provided opportunities for developing the next generation of quantum technology, including quantum cryptography, quantum computers, and quantum sensors.
2025 chemistry prize
The Nobel Prize laureates in chemistry 2025, Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson and Omar Yaghi, have created molecular constructions with large spaces through which gases and other chemicals can flow.
These constructions, metal–organic frameworks, can be used to harvest water from desert air, capture carbon dioxide, store toxic gases or catalyse chemical reactions.
Through the development of metal–organic frameworks, the laureates have provided chemists with new opportunities for solving some of the challenges we face.
2025 medicine prize
The body’s powerful immune system must be regulated, or it may attack our own organs. Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi made groundbreaking discoveries concerning peripheral immune tolerance that prevents the immune system from harming the body.
Their discoveries have laid the foundation for a new field of research and spurred the development of new treatments, for example for cancer and autoimmune diseases.
2025 literature prize
The Nobel Prize in Literature for 2025 is awarded to the Hungarian author László Krasznahorkai, “for his compelling and visionary oeuvre that, in the midst of apocalyptic terror, reaffirms the power of art.” László Krasznahorkai is a great epic writer in the Central European tradition that extends through Kafka to Thomas Bernhard, and is characterised by absurdism and grotesque excess.
2025 peace prize
The Nobel Peace Prize for 2025 goes to a brave and committed champion of peace – to a woman who keeps the flame of democracy burning amid a growing darkness. As the leader of the democracy movement in Venezuela, Maria Corina Machado is one of the most extraordinary examples of civilian courage in Latin America in recent times.
Machado has been a key, unifying figure in a political opposition that was once deeply divided – an opposition that found common ground in the demand for free elections and representative government. Listen to the moment Machado finds out she has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
2025 economic sciences prize
This year’s laureates in economic sciences, Joel Mokyr, Philippe Aghion and Peter Howitt, explain how innovation provides the impetus for further progress. Over the last two centuries, for the first time in history, the world has seen sustained economic growth. This has lifted vast numbers of people out of poverty and laid the foundation of our prosperity.
The laureates have taught us that sustained growth cannot be taken for granted. Economic stagnation, not growth, has been the norm for most of human history. Their work shows that we must be aware of, and counteract, threats to continued growth.
CREDIT: nobelprize.org
