How Nobel Prize Winners Chosen

Imagine doing the finest work of your whole life — and never even knowing that your name was discussed for the biggest honour on Earth. No letter arrives. No one phones you with a hint. Your name simply sleeps inside a locked file, and it must stay there for fifty years before anyone is allowed to open it.

That is how the Nobel Prize really works. There is no form to fill, no exam to pass and no public vote to win. So how does a winner appear at the end of this long, silent road? Let us walk through it, step by step.

The Prize That Started With One Man’s Will

The story begins with Alfred Nobel, a Swedish inventor and businessman best remembered for inventing dynamite. Near the end of his life, on 27 November 1895, he signed a will that surprised many people. In it, he left most of his fortune to a special fund. The income from that fund would pay for yearly prizes for people whose work had helped humanity the most.

The first prizes were given in 1901, a few years after his death. His will named five fields: physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature and peace. A sixth prize, in economic sciences, arrived much later, in 1969. That one was not in Nobel’s will at all — Sweden’s central bank created it in his memory, and it is handed out in the same style as the original five.

You Cannot Apply for a Nobel Prize

Here is the rule that shocks most people: nobody is allowed to put forward their own name. Self-nominations are simply not accepted. A brilliant scientist cannot write in and say, “Please consider me.” A famous writer cannot campaign. A peace worker cannot gather signatures and send them in.

Everything depends on other people — the right other people — deciding that your work deserves to be named. If nobody with the power to nominate ever sends your name, then, as far as the Nobel system is concerned, you do not exist that year. This is why the prize feels so different from other awards. It does not reward the loudest voice. It rewards work that experts quietly notice.

Who Can Nominate a Nobel Prize Winner

Every September, the journey begins again. Thousands of selected people around the world receive an invitation to suggest names for the following year’s prizes. These nominators are not random members of the public. Depending on the prize, they include university professors, scientists, members of academies, earlier Nobel winners and other chosen experts in the field.

The peace prize works with a small difference: for that one, an invitation letter is not required, and people such as lawmakers are among those who may send a name. For all prizes, the door closes at the same moment — nominations must arrive by midnight on 31 January.

Think about what this means. By the time you are enjoying the October announcements on the news, the names for next year are already being prepared. The machine never really stops; it just moves in silence.

The Fifty Year Rule of Silence

Now we reach the strangest part of all. Once a nomination is sent, it disappears into darkness. The Nobel institutions do not announce who was nominated. They do not confirm names that newspapers guess. They do not even tell the person who was nominated. And this silence is not for a year or two — the names of nominees and of the people who nominated them stay secret for fifty years.

History shows how real this rule is. The first nomination for Martin Luther King Jr. reached the Norwegian Nobel Committee in 1963 — yet the world only learned who had sent his name in 2014, half a century later. The British writer Bertrand Russell was nominated again and again, on 47 occasions, before he finally received the literature prize in 1950. For most of those years, he would have had no official word that his name was even in the room.

So when a journalist claims that some famous person “was nominated this year,” remember: nobody outside the committees can truly know that yet. The honest answer will only come out in fifty years.

Who Chooses the Nobel Prize Winners

There is no single Nobel jury sitting over all six prizes. Nobel’s will gave the job to different institutions, and each one guards its own field.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences chooses the winners in physics, chemistry and economic sciences. Medicine is decided by the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institutet, a group of 50 members. Literature belongs to the Swedish Academy. And the peace prize is chosen in a different country altogether: a committee of five people, appointed by Norway’s parliament, makes that decision in Oslo.

The Nobel Foundation itself looks after the money and the general running of the prizes, but it does not pick the winners. The choosing is left to these institutions, exactly as Alfred Nobel arranged in his will.

How the Committees Judge Every Candidate

From February to September, the real work happens. For each prize there is a Nobel committee of about five to ten members. The committees study the candidates, read expert opinions, and prepare careful evaluation reports. Slowly, a long list of names becomes a short one.

This stage is not a race for the most nominations. Getting many nominations does not force a win, and a name sent by only a few people can still rise to the top if the work itself is judged truly great. The committees are asking one hard question: did this person’s work bring an outstanding benefit to humanity?

At the end, the awarding institutions vote, and their decision is final — it cannot be appealed. One prize can be shared by as many as three people, which often happens in science, where big discoveries are team efforts. The peace prize is special once more: it can also be given to an organisation, not only to a person. And if the judges feel that no candidate reaches the high standard in a given year, a prize can even be held back.

October Announcements and the December Ceremony

After months of whispers, October brings the noise. The new laureates are announced over a span of about eight days, beginning around the first Monday of the month. One by one, the world hears the names in medicine, physics, chemistry, literature, peace and economic sciences. For many winners, the news arrives as a complete surprise — remember, they were never told they were being considered.

Then comes the day every laureate waits for: 10 December, known as Nobel Day. It is the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death. On this day, the winners receive their medal, their diploma and their prize money at ceremonies in Stockholm and in Oslo. The peace prize is presented in Oslo, while the other prizes are presented in Stockholm.

So the next time the October headlines appear, you will know the hidden story behind them. The winner smiling on your screen did not apply, did not campaign and did not win a vote of the crowd. Somewhere, an invited expert wrote down their name before a January deadline, a committee argued over it for months in total secrecy — and the full story of how close the contest was will stay locked away until most of us are long gone.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can anyone apply for a Nobel Prize?

No. There is no application at all. Self-nominations are not allowed, so a person can only be considered if an invited expert nominates them.

Who is allowed to nominate someone?

Thousands of chosen people, such as professors, academy members, scientists and past laureates, are invited each September. For the peace prize, no invitation letter is needed, and lawmakers are among those who may nominate.

Why is everything kept secret for 50 years?

The secrecy protects the process. Committees can judge the work honestly, without pressure, campaigns or public fighting, and unsuccessful candidates are never embarrassed in public.

Yes. A prize can be shared by up to three individuals. The peace prize can also go to an organisation instead of a person.

When do winners receive their prize?

The names are announced in October, and the medal, diploma and prize money are presented on 10 December at ceremonies in Stockholm and Oslo.

Sources

NobelPrize.org — How are the Nobel Prize laureates selected? (official nomination page): https://www.nobelprize.org/nomination/
The Business Standard — Decoding the Nobel: No campaigns, no self-nominees; only merit over popularity: https://www.tbsnews.net/explainer/decoding-nobel-no-campaigns-no-self-nominees-only-merit-over-popularity-1570641
The Economic Times — Nobel Prize explained: Who can nominate candidates and how are winners chosen?: https://m.economictimes.com/news/international/global-trends/nobel-prize-explained-who-can-nominate-candidates-and-how-are-winners-chosen/amp_articleshow/134697915.cms
The picture on this page is an original illustration made for Talha M Blog.