The Nobel Prize is an international award given yearly since 1901 for achievements in physics, chemistry, medicine, literature and for peace.
In 1968, the Bank of Sweden instituted the Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, founder of the Nobel Prize.
The Prize Winners are announced in October every year. They receive their awards (a prize amount, a gold medal and a diploma) on December 10, the anniversary of Nobel's death.
| Year |
Awarded to |
Reason(s) for award |
|---|
| 2006 |
Roger O. Kornberg |
for his studies of the molecular basis of eukaryotic transcription |
| 2005 |
Yves Chauvin, Robert H. Grubbs, Richard R. Schrock |
for the development of the metathesis method in organic synthesis |
| 2004 |
Aaron Ciechanover, Avram Hershko, Irwin Rose |
for the discovery of ubiquitin-mediated protein degradation |
| 2003 |
Peter Agre, Roderick MacKinnon |
for discoveries concerning channels in cell membranes |
| 2002 |
John B. Fenn, Koichi Tanaka, Kurt Wüthrich |
for the development of methods for identification and structure analyses of biological macromolecules |
| 2001 |
William S. Knowles, Ryoji Noyori, K. Barry Sharpless |
for their work on chirally catalysed hydrogenation reactions |
| 2000 |
Alan Heeger, Alan G. MacDiarmid, Hideki Shirakawa |
for the discovery and development of conductive polymers |
| 1999 |
Ahmed Zewail |
for his studies of the transition states of chemical reactions using femtosecond spectroscopy |
| 1998 |
Walter Kohn |
for his development of the density-functional theory, John Pople for his development of computational methods in quantum chemistry |
| 1997 |
Paul D. Boyer, John E. Walker |
for their elucidation of the enzymatic mechanism underlying the synthesis of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) |
| 1997 |
Jens C. Skou |
for the first discovery of an ion-transporting enzyme, Na+, K+ -ATPase |
| 1996 |
Robert F. Curl Jr., Sir Harold Kroto, Richard E. Smalley |
for their discovery of fullerenes |
| 1995 |
Paul J. Crutzen, Mario J. Molina, F. Sherwood Rowland |
for their work in atmospheric chemistry, particularly concerning the formation and decomposition of ozone |
| 1994 |
George A. Olah |
for his contribution to carbocation chemistry |
| 1993 |
Kary B. Mullis, Michael Smith |
for contributions to the developments of methods within DNA-based chemistry |
| 1992 |
Rudolph A. Marcus |
for his contributions to the theory of electron transfer reactions in chemical systems |
| 1991 |
Richard R. Ernst |
for his contributions to the development of the methodology of high resolution nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy |
| 1990 |
Elias James Corey |
for his development of the theory and methodology of organic synthesis |
| 1989 |
Sidney Altman, Thomas R. Cech |
for their discovery of catalytic properties of RNA |
| 1988 |
Johann Deisenhofer, Robert Huber, Hartmut Michel |
for the determination of the three-dimensional structure of a photosynthetic reaction centre |
| 1987 |
Donald J. Cram, Jean-Marie Lehn, Charles J. Pedersen |
for their development and use of molecules with structure-specific interactions of high selectivity |
| 1986 |
Dudley R. Herschbach, Yuan T. Lee, John C. Polanyi |
for their contributions concerning the dynamics of chemical elementary processes |
| 1985 |
Herbert A. Hauptman, Jerome Karle |
for their outstanding achievements in the development of direct methods for the determination of crystal structures |
| 1984 |
Bruce Merrifield |
for his development of methodology for chemical synthesis on a solid matrix |
| 1983 |
Henry Taube |
for his work on the mechanisms of electron transfer reactions, especially in metal complexes |
| 1982 |
Aaron Klug |
for his development of crystallographic electron microscopy and his structural elucidation of biologically important nucleic acid-protein complexes |
| 1981 |
Kenichi Fukui, Roald Hoffmann |
for their theories, developed independently, concerning the course of chemical reactions |
| 1980 |
Paul Berg |
for his fundamental studies of the biochemistry of nucleic acids, with particular regard to recombinant-DNA |
| 1980 |
Walter Gilbert and Frederick Sanger |
for their contributions concerning the determination of base sequences in nucleic acids |
| 1979 |
Herbert C. Brown, Georg Wittig |
for their development of the use of boron- and phosphorus-containing compounds, respectively, into important reagents in organic synthesis |
| 1978 |
Peter Mitchell |
for his contribution to the understanding of biological energy transfer through the formulation of the chemiosmotic theory |
| 1977 |
Ilya Prigogine |
for his contributions to non-equilibrium thermodynamics, particularly the theory of dissipative structures |
| 1976 |
William Lipscomb |
for his studies on the structure of boranes illuminating problems of chemical bonding |
| 1975 |
John Cornforth |
for his work on the stereochemistry of enzyme-catalyzed reactions", Vladimir Prelog for his research into the stereochemistry of organic molecules and reactions |
| 1974 |
Paul J. Flory |
for his fundamental achievements, both theoretical and experimental, in the physical chemistry of the macromolecules |
| 1973 |
Ernst Otto Fischer, Geoffrey Wilkinson |
for their pioneering work, performed independently, on the chemistry of the organometallic, so called sandwich compounds |
| 1972 |
Christian Anfinsen |
for his work on ribonuclease, especially concerning the connection between the amino acid sequence and the biologically active conformation |
| 1972 |
Stanford Moore and William H. Stein |
for their contribution to the understanding of the connection between chemical structure and catalytic activity of the active centre of the ribonuclease molecule |
| 1971 |
Gerhard Herzberg |
for his contributions to the knowledge of electronic structure and geometry of molecules, particularly free radicals |
| 1970 |
Luis Leloir |
for his discovery of sugar nucleotides and their role in the biosynthesis of carbohydrates |
| 1969 |
Derek Barton and Odd Hassel |
for their contributions to the development of the concept of conformation and its application in chemistry |
| 1968 |
Lars Onsager |
for the discovery of the reciprocal relations bearing his name, which are fundamental for the thermodynamics of irreversible processes |
| 1967 |
Manfred Eigen, Ronald G.W. Norrish, George Porter |
for their studies of extremely fast chemical reactions, effected by disturbing the equlibrium by means of very short pulses of energy |
| 1966 |
Robert S. Mulliken |
for his fundamental work concerning chemical bonds and the electronic structure of molecules by the molecular orbital method |
| 1965 |
Robert B. Woodward |
for his outstanding achievements in the art of organic synthesis |
| 1964 |
Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin |
for her determinations by X-ray techniques of the structures of important biochemical substances |
| 1963 |
Karl Ziegler and Giulio Natta |
for their discoveries in the field of the chemistry and technology of high polymers |
| 1962 |
Max F. Perutz and John C. Kendrew |
for their studies of the structures of globular proteins |
| 1961 |
Melvin Calvin |
for his research on the carbon dioxide assimilation in plants |
| 1960 |
Willard F. Libby |
for his method to use carbon-14 for age determination in archaeology, geology, geophysics, and other branches of science |
| 1959 |
Jaroslav Heyrovsky |
for his discovery and development of the polarographic methods of analysis |
| 1958 |
Frederick Sanger |
for his work on the structure of proteins, especially that of insulin |
| 1957 |
Lord Todd |
for his work on nucleotides and nucleotide co-enzymes |
| 1956 |
Sir Cyril Hinshelwood and Nikolay Semenov |
for their researches into the mechanism of chemical reactions |
| 1955 |
Vincent du Vigneaud |
for his work on biochemically important sulphur compounds, especially for the first synthesis of a polypeptide hormone |
| 1954 |
Linus Pauling |
for his research into the nature of the chemical bond and its application to the elucidation of the structure of complex substances |
| 1953 |
Hermann Staudinger |
for his discoveries in the field of macromolecular chemistry |
| 1952 |
Archer J.P. Martin and Richard L.M. Synge |
for their invention of partition chromatography |
| 1951 |
Edwin M. McMillan and Glenn T. Seaborg |
for their discoveries in the chemistry of the transuranium elements |
| 1950 |
Otto Diels and Kurt Alder |
for their discovery and development of the diene synthesis |
| 1949 |
William F. Giauque |
for his contributions in the field of chemical thermodynamics, particularly concerning the behaviour of substances at extremely low temperatures |
| 1948 |
Arne Tiselius |
for his research on electrophoresis and adsorption analysis, especially for his discoveries concerning the complex nature of the serum proteins |
| 1947 |
Sir Robert Robinson |
for his investigations on plant products of biological importance, especially the alkaloids |
| 1946 |
James B. Sumner |
for his discovery that enzymes can be crystallized |
| 1946 |
John H. Northrop and Wendell M. Stanley |
for their preparation of enzymes and virus proteins in a pure form |
| 1945 |
Artturi Virtanen |
for his research and inventions in agricultural and nutrition chemistry, especially for his fodder preservation method |
| 1944 |
Otto Hahn |
for his discovery of the fission of heavy nuclei |
| 1943 |
George de Hevesy |
for his work on the use of isotopes as tracers in the study of chemical processes |
| 1942 |
|
The prize money was with 1/3 allocated to the Main Fund and with 2/3 to the Special Fund of this prize section |
| 1941 |
|
The prize money was with 1/3 allocated to the Main Fund and with 2/3 to the Special Fund of this prize section |
| 1940 |
|
The prize money was with 1/3 allocated to the Main Fund and with 2/3 to the Special Fund of this prize section |
| 1939 |
Adolf Butenandt |
for his work on sex hormones |
| 1939 |
Leopold Ruzicka |
for his work on polymethylenes and higher terpenes |
| 1938 |
Richard Kuhn |
for his work on carotenoids and vitamins |
| 1937 |
Norman Haworth |
for his investigations on carbohydrates and vitamin C |
| 1937 |
Paul Karrer |
for his investigations on carotenoids, flavins and vitamins A and B2 |
| 1936 |
Peter Debye |
for his contributions to our knowledge of molecular structure through his investigations on dipole moments and on the diffraction of X-rays and electrons in gases |
| 1935 |
Frédéric Joliot and Irène Joliot-Curie |
in recognition of their synthesis of new radioactive elements |
| 1934 |
Harold C. Urey |
for his discovery of heavy hydrogen |
| 1933 |
|
The prize money was with 1/3 allocated to the Main Fund and with 2/3 to the Special Fund of this prize section |
| 1932 |
Irving Langmuir |
for his discoveries and investigations in surface chemistry |
| 1931 |
Carl Bosch and Friedrich Bergius |
in recognition of their contributions to the invention and development of chemical high pressure methods |
| 1930 |
Hans Fischer |
for his researches into the constitution of haemin and chlorophyll and especially for his synthesis of haemin |
| 1929 |
Arthur Harden and Hans von Euler-Chelpin |
for their investigations on the fermentation of sugar and fermentative enzymes |
| 1928 |
Adolf Windaus |
for the services rendered through his research into the constitution of the sterols and their connection with the vitamins |
| 1927 |
Heinrich Wieland |
for his investigations of the constitution of the bile acids and related substances |
| 1926 |
The Svedberg |
for his work on disperse systems |
| 1925 |
Richard Zsigmondy |
for his demonstration of the heterogenous nature of colloid solutions and for the methods he used, which have since become fundamental in modern colloid chemistry |
| 1924 |
|
The prize money was allocated to the Special Fund of this prize section |
| 1923 |
Fritz Pregl |
for his invention of the method of micro-analysis of organic substances |
| 1922 |
Francis W. Aston |
for his discovery, by means of his mass spectrograph, of isotopes, in a large number of non-radioactive elements, and for his enunciation of the whole-number rule |
| 1921 |
Frederick Soddy |
for his contributions to our knowledge of the chemistry of radioactive substances, and his investigations into the origin and nature of isotopes |
| 1920 |
Walther Nernst |
in recognition of his work in thermochemistry |
| 1919 |
|
The prize money was allocated to the Special Fund of this prize section |
| 1918 |
Fritz Haber |
for the synthesis of ammonia from its elements |
| 1917 |
|
The prize money was allocated to the Special Fund of this prize section |
| 1916 |
|
The prize money was allocated to the Special Fund of this prize section |
| 1915 |
Richard Willstätter |
for his researches on plant pigments, especially chlorophyll |
| 1914 |
Theodore W. Richards |
in recognition of his accurate determinations of the atomic weight of a large number of chemical elements |
| 1913 |
Alfred Werner |
in recognition of his work on the linkage of atoms in molecules by which he has thrown new light on earlier investigations and opened up new fields of research especially in inorganic chemistry |
| 1912 |
Victor Grignard |
for the discovery of the so-called Grignard reagent, which in recent years has greatly advanced the progress of organic chemistry |
| 1912 |
Paul Sabatier |
for his method of hydrogenating organic compounds in the presence of finely disintegrated metals whereby the progress of organic chemistry has been greatly advanced in recent years |
| 1911 |
Marie Curie |
in recognition of her services to the advancement of chemistry by the discovery of the elements radium and polonium, by the isolation of radium and the study of the nature and compounds of this remarkable element |
| 1910 |
Otto Wallach |
in recognition of his services to organic chemistry and the chemical industry by his pioneer work in the field of alicyclic compounds |
| 1909 |
Wilhelm Ostwald |
in recognition of his work on catalysis and for his investigations into the fundamental principles governing chemical equilibria and rates of reaction |
| 1908 |
Ernest Rutherford |
for his investigations into the disintegration of the elements, and the chemistry of radioactive substances |
| 1907 |
Eduard Buchner |
for his biochemical researches and his discovery of cell-free fermentation |
| 1906 |
Henri Moissan |
in recognition of the great services rendered by him in his investigation and isolation of the element fluorine, and for the adoption in the service of science of the electric furnace called after him |
| 1905 |
Adolf von Baeyer |
in recognition of his services in the advancement of organic chemistry and the chemical industry, through his work on organic dyes and hydroaromatic compounds |
| 1904 |
Sir William Ramsay |
in recognition of his services in the discovery of the inert gaseous elements in air, and his determination of their place in the periodic system |
| 1903 |
Svante Arrhenius |
in recognition of the extraordinary services he has rendered to the advancement of chemistry by his electrolytic theory of dissociation |
| 1902 |
Emil Fischer |
in recognition of the extraordinary services he has rendered by his work on sugar and purine syntheses |
| 1901 |
Jacobus H. van 't Hoff |
in recognition of the extraordinary services he has rendered by the discovery of the laws of chemical dynamics and osmotic pressure in solutions |
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