How the Nobel Prize is arranged

Alexey Vodovozov

It is difficult to find a person who has not heard of one of the most prestigious international awards, which is awarded for outstanding discoveries in science and landmark achievements in literature or the struggle for peace. But few people know the "inner kitchen" of the Nobel Prize, its rules and traditions. For more than 100 years of existence, the highest scientific award has acquired its own rituals and even legends.

Founding FatherWithout Alfred Nobel, who created a foundation in his own name, from which prizes are paid in his name, of course, there would have been no Nobel Prize.

Alfred was born in Stockholm in a large family of inventor and engineer Immanuel Nobel. For a long time the family lived in St. Petersburg, an outstanding Russian chemist Nikolai Nikolaevich Zimin noticed the capable and inquisitive young man, on his recommendation Nobel studied in Europe and the USA for 2 years, and then ran a family business in Russia.

After bankruptcy, the family was forced to return to Sweden, where the young man devoted himself entirely to the study of explosives. In 1868, Alfred received a patent for dynamite, after which his business went uphill. He made a number of inventions that found application not only and not so much in the mining industry as in military affairs, for which Nobel received the nickname "the merchant of death" among the newspapermen. In 1888, the media mistakenly "buried" Alfred by printing an unflattering obituary, although Ludwig, his older brother, actually died. Biographers claim that this was the turning point, Nobel decided to leave behind something more valuable than explosives and smokeless gunpowder.

Legacy in the name of scienceAlfred Nobel died on December 10, 1896 from a hemorrhagic stroke.

And in January 1897, his will was announced, where he announced the sale of all his assets and the transfer of his entire fortune to a special fund, the income of which will be distributed annually in the form of a bonus to those who have brought the greatest benefit to humanity.

The will clearly stated in which fields the prizes should be awarded: physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature and peace building. And here comes the first myth about the mathematical Nobel Prize. Allegedly, Alfred did not include her in the list because his wife left him and ran away with a mathematician. In fact, Nobel was not married, and no one stole his girls, so this story is pure fiction.

I, the scientific editor of the journal "Russian Pharmacies", managed to ask a question about the "Nobel" sciences to Alfred's great–grandnephew, Mikael Nobel, who headed the Nobel House for 15 years. The choice of fields was based solely on personal preferences: firstly, Nobel himself was a physicist and chemist, secondly, he tried himself on the basis of drama and poetry, thirdly, he was a terrible hypochondriac and liked to go to doctors, and fourth, the woman with whom Alfred had the longest relationship (18 years) was an activist of the peace movement. Nobel was not interested in other fields of knowledge.

What about the economic Nobel Prize? It has nothing to do with the Nobel Foundation. Officially, it is called the Prize of the Swedish State Bank for Economic Sciences in memory of Alfred Nobel has been awarded since 1969 according to the same rules as the "real" Nobel Prizes, but it is considered only conditionally.

Cities and countriesWhy are the laureates in four nominations chosen in Sweden, and the winner of the Peace Prize is determined in Norway?

The answer to this question becomes clear if we recall that Nobel lived in the United Kingdom of Sweden and Norway, a state that existed until 1905.

Alfred himself determined that the peace Prize should be dealt with in Oslo. The rest of the institutions were named after his death, in 1897: physiologists and physicians were placed under the jurisdiction of the Karolinska Institute, the Swedish Academy received the right to award the prize in literature, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences had to deal with physicists and chemists. After the division of the Swedish-Norwegian Union, the Swedes got 3 scientific and 1 cultural prize, the Norwegians got a peace prize.

Bust of Alfred Nobel at the Karolinska Institute (photo by the author)

Amounts and sharesAccording to the statute of the Nobel Foundation, "Swedish" prizes are awarded only to individuals, and organizations, both official and public, can receive the "Norwegian" award.

There can be no more than three awardees in each nomination, while in fact the award is given to the work, not the scientists. This means that if the Nobel Prize is awarded to two works, each of them will receive 1/2 of the prize. If two scientists have made a significant contribution to one of these works, they are due 1/4 of the prize amount, the third awarded – for other achievements – will receive the remaining half. If one work became the winner, and three did it, the money will be divided equally into three.

In 1900, Nobel's assets were sold for 31.6 million Swedish kronor (SEK, 1 SEK = 5.3 rubles, 1 USD = 6.9 SEK), that is, about 1.65 billion SEK in 2014 prices. The first prize pool was 150 thousand SEK (8 million SEK in 2014 prices), it reached the largest size in 2010 – 10 million SEK, then it was reduced to 8 million SEK. The organizers explained the reduction of the monetary part of the prize by the need to maintain the profitability of the Nobel Foundation at such a level that it would provide an "endless" opportunity for awarding the award in the future. The fact is that not only the prize itself is paid from the Fund, but also all related expenses, including the costs of the award ceremony, the traditional Nobel dinner and the medals themselves.

Difficulties of choiceOne of the favorite ways to promote dubious and supposedly revolutionary diagnostic and therapeutic techniques is to announce that she (or the author) has been nominated for the Nobel Prize.

This trick is designed for those who are not familiar with the nomination procedure. Information about all candidates is not subject to disclosure for 50 years, while in 2014 access to the database was opened only for 1901-1951.

In addition, the selection of candidates is carried out by the Nobel Committee, for which its members send requests to about 3 thousand leading experts in the "Nobel" fields, there are no self-nominees here, as well as researchers unknown or little-known in the scientific world. As a result, about 300 potential laureates get to the Committee for consideration, which after the dropout remains from 5 to 15, plus 1-3 awarded a commemorative prize in economics. However, there may not be worthy awards in one or more nominations, in which case the funds remain in the Fund. If the Peace Prize is not awarded, its monetary part is divided among the laureates of scientific prizes, this has happened 19 times already.

One of the main criteria for selection is that the discovery should be of a practical nature, potentially of an applied nature, so theorists often remain without awards. Another criterion is that the work should be really breakthrough, significant, however, a "time check" is often required to determine the significance, so not all candidates live to be recognized. The Nobel Prize was awarded posthumously twice – in 1931 and 1961, but then they decided to abandon this practice. The rule was violated only in 2011, when the Nobel Committee at the time of the decision was not yet aware of the death of Ralph Steinman, who eventually received a "medical" prize for his work on immunity.

Subramanian Chandrasekhar, an American astrophysicist, waited the longest for his prize. In 1983, he was awarded for the discoveries he made more than 50 years ago. The discoverer of oncogenic viruses Francis Peyton Rouse, who became the oldest Nobel laureate in 1966, had to wait the same amount, at the time of awarding the prize he was 87 years old.

Ceremonies and traditionsThe announcement of the laureates takes place during the so-called Nobel Week, in early October.

Medals and diplomas are awarded on Alfred Nobel Memorial Day, December 10. In Stockholm, the laureates receive them from the hands of the King of Sweden, in Oslo the main role is played by the chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, and the King of Norway is only present at the presentation.

Memorial plaque on the Stockholm City Hall. People symbolize 5 areas in which the prize is awarded,
from left to right: physics, chemistry, peace prize, medicine, literature (photo by the author)

In Stockholm, after the award ceremony, the royal family, the laureates and about 1300 guests head to the Blue Hall of the City Hall for the Nobel banquet. The menu is developed by the best chefs in Sweden, and its composition remains a secret until the event itself, it is only known that ice cream will be served for dessert. By the way, the varieties of "Nobel" ice cream that were already on the banquet menu can be tasted at a kiosk near the Swedish Academy, on the ground floor of which the Nobel Museum is located.

The service, which is put on the tables of the Blue Hall on December 10, costs $ 1.6 million, so each guest accepts and submits his devices for a report, they are "tied" to the number of his room in the hotel. The organizers were forced to take this forced measure after a number of thefts, and even a saucer from Princess Liliana's tea pair was stolen.

The banquet protocol is scheduled by seconds. So, the ice cream delivery takes 3 minutes, the change of dishes takes 2 minutes, at 22:15 the king gives a sign to start dancing, and at 1:30 all the guests disperse. Anyone can order a Nobel dinner at the Stockholm City Hall restaurant, a full "set" will cost about 1500 SEK. However, you can only try ice cream, a 50-gram ball of which costs exactly 100 times cheaper.

The banquet in Oslo is more modest, about 250 people are invited to it, it's true, there are more shifts of dishes there – five. The tradition was broken only in 1979 at the request of Mother Teresa, who received the Peace Prize. With 7 thousand dollars allocated for the event, she arranged a Christmas dinner for 2 thousand homeless people.

Russian traceThere are very few Nobel laureates among Russian or Soviet scientists, writers and public figures.

Only 21 people at the time of the award were subjects of the Russian Empire, citizens of the USSR, the Russian Federation or had dual citizenship. Another 18 people are considered to be from our country, but at the time of the award they either did not have citizenship at all (like Ivan Bunin), or they were already citizens of other countries.

The Nobel Prizes were awarded for the first time in 1901.

The "medical" Nobel Prize has not been awarded 9 times: in 1915, 1916, 1917, 1918, 1921, 1925, 1940, 1941 and 1942.

The obverse of all Nobel medals is the same, but the reverses are different.

On the "medical" medal (picture from Wikipedia) it depicts a woman with an open book on her lap, personifying the genius of medicine, who collects water pouring from a stone to quench the thirst of a sick girl standing next to her.

Four people became Nobel laureates twice:
Maria Sklodovskaya-Curie (1903 – physics, 1911 – chemistry), Linus Pauling (1954 – chemistry, 1962 – Peace Prize), John Bardin (1956, 1972 – physics), Frederick Sanger (1958, 1980 – chemistry). The only three–time Nobel laureate is the International Committee of the Red Cross (1917, 1944, 1963 – Peace Prize).

The youngest winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or medicine is Frederick Bunting. At the time of awarding the highest scientific award for his work on insulin in 1923, he was 32 years old. And the youngest Nobel laureate in history is 25–year-old physicist Lawrence Bragg, who was awarded the prize in 1915.
There are cases when the authorities of the country forced the Nobelists to refuse their awards. In 1938 and 1939, this happened to three German scientists, and in 1958 Boris Pasternak found himself in a similar situation.

The Medical Nobel Prize was most often awarded for achievements in genetics or molecular biology, chemical – for discoveries in the field of biochemistry, physical – for work on elementary particle physics.

From 1901 to 2013, 45 women were awarded the Nobel Prize.

In the entire history, only two people voluntarily refused the Nobel Prize: in 1964, the French philosopher and writer Jean–Paul Sartre, who declared his unwillingness to be beholden to any social institution and question his independence, and in 1973, the North Vietnamese politician Le Duc Tho, who shared the Peace Prize with US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger for ending the Vietnam War and believed that he was not in a position to accept any awards.

An abridged version of the article was published in the journal "Russian Pharmacies" No. 17-2014.

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