INTRODUCTION
The Nobel Prizes are annual awards given to honor individuals and organizations for their outstanding achievements in six categories: medicine, physics, chemistry, literature, economics, and peace. It is the most prestigious honor given to venerate intellectual accomplishments in the world.
People who receive these prizes are called ‘Nobel Prize Laureate.’ The award consists of a medal, a personal diploma, and a cash award.
The award is funded by The Nobel Foundation, formed out of the will of Swedish inventor and industrialist Alfred Nobel. The first award was given on the fifth death anniversary of Alfred Nobel on December 10, 1901.
Initially, the prize was distributed in five areas. But, The Bank of Sweden established an additional award for economic sciences in memory of Alfred Nobel in 1968, which was first given in 1969. It is known as Sveriges Riksbank Prize. Although it is technically not a Nobel Prize, its winner is announced along with the recipients of Nobel Prizes.
AWARDING INSTITUTIONS
As per the will of Alfred Nobel, the awards are distributed by different institutions. The Nobel Foundation looks into the legal and functional administration of the funds in association with these institutes. The decisions on prizes rest entirely in the hands of the following institutions:
Physics, Chemistry, and Economics – The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (Stockholm)
Medicine or Physiology – Karolinska Institute (Stockholm)
Literature – Swedish Academy (Stockholm)
Peace – Norwegian Nobel Committee (Oslo)
NOBEL PRIZE WINNERS 2021
CATEGORY
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RECIPIENT’S NAME & WORK |
PHYSICS
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SYUKURO MANABE (USA) and KLAUS HASSELMAN (GERMANY) – Physical modeling of earth’s climate and quantifying variability reliable predicting global warming.
GIORGIO PARISI (ITALY)- Discovery of the interplay of disorder and fluctuations in physical systems from atomic to planetary scales. |
CHEMISTRY |
BENJAMIN LIST (GERMANY) and DAVID MACMILLAN (USA) – The development of asymmetric organocatalysis.
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PHYSIOLOGY/
MEDICINE |
DAVID JULIUS (USA) and ARDEM PATAPOUTIAN (LEBANON) – The discoveries of receptors for temperature and touch
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LITERATURE |
ABDUL RAZAK GURNAH (TANZANIA) – For his uncompromising and compassionate penetration of the effects of colonialism and the fate of the refugee in the gulf between cultures and continents.”
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PEACE |
MARIA RESSA (PHILIPPINES) and DMITRY MURATOV (RUSSIA) – For efforts of these journalists to safeguard freedom of expression, which is a precondition for democracy and lasting peace.
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ECONOMICS
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DAVID CARD (USA) – For his empirical contributions to labour economics. JOSHUA D. ANGRIST (USA) and GUIDO W. IMBENS (USA) – For their methodological contributions to the analysis of casual relationships.
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QUICK FACTS
- Total Awards- 607
- Laureates- 970
- Awarded Women- 57
- Awarded Organizations- 25
- Youngest laureate- 17
- Oldest laureate- 97
- People who have been awarded twice- J.Bardeen (Physics), M. Curie (Physics and Chemistry), L. Pauling (Chemistry and Peace), F. Sanger (Chemistry).
- ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross) and UNHRC (United Nations Human Rights Commission) are two organizations that have received the Noble Prize thrice and twice, respectively.
- Posthumous Nobel Prize winners- Dag Hammarskjold (Peace), Erik Axel Karlfedlt (Literature), and Ralph Steinman (Medicine).