What you need to Know about the 2023 Nobel Prize

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The 2023 Nobel Prize

This week marks the announcement of the 2023 Nobel Prize. The six prizes recognize individuals and groups for their contributions to particular fields.

What is the Nobel Prize?

The Nobel Prize is an international award administered by the Nobel Foundation in Stockholm, Sweden, and based on the fortune of Alfred Nobel, a Swedish inventor and entrepreneur.

The Nobel Prizes are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel’s will of 1895, are awarded to “those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind.” Prizes are awarded in the fields of Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, and Peace.

Read: 2022 Nobel Prizes: The Full List

The 2023 Nobel Prize Winners

Here is some information about the 2023 Nobel Prize winners and why they won:

1. The Nobel Prize in Physics 2023; Pierre Agostini, Ferenc Krausz and Anne L’Huillier

“For experimental methods that generate attosecond pulses of light for the study of electron dynamics in matter”

The trio won the prize in physics for conducting experiments that produced pulses of light so short that they were measured in attoseconds or one-billionth of one-billionth of a second. Their research can help provide images from inside atoms and molecules.

From left, Agostini of The Ohio State University in the United States, Krausz of the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics and Ludwig Maximilian University in Germany, and L’Huillier of Lund University in Sweden [Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP]

The breakthrough allows, for example, for blood samples to be examined with light flashes to detect any changes, opening the possibility of early detection of diseases such as lung cancer.

L’Huillier becomes the fifth woman to win a Nobel in physics.

2. The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2023; Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman

“For their discoveries concerning nucleoside base modifications that enabled the development of effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19”

The two US-based Doctors won the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for research that led directly to the first mRNA vaccines to fight COVID-19.

2023 Nobel Prize — In this undated image provided by Penn Medicine, Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman pose for a photo at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Karikó and Weissman won the Nobel Prize in medicine on Monday, Oct. 2, 2023, for discoveries that enabled the creation of mRNA vaccines against COVID-19 and that could be used to develop other shots in the future. (Peggy Peterson Photography/Penn Medicine via AP)(Peggy Peterson / ASSOCIATED PRESS)

The Hungarian-born Kariko and his counterpart, American Weissman conducted research at the University of Pennsylvania on modifying mRNA. They started looking into this in the late 1990s and published a key finding in 2005.

According to the awarding body, the Karolinska Institute, this research enabled the development of COVID-19 vaccines by Pfizer and Moderna.

3. The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2023; Moungi G. Bawendi, Louis E. Brus, and Alexei I. Ekimov

“For the discovery and synthesis of quantum dots”

The trio won the award in chemistry for the discovery and synthesis of quantum dots. Quantum dots are particles that are so small that their properties are determined by quantum phenomena.

**Moungi G. Bawendi, Louis E. Brus, and Alexei I. Ekimov [AP]**

Researchers believe that this technology can pave the way for the development of flexible electronics, tiny sensors, thinner solar cells, and encrypted quantum communication.

In a very unusual turn of events, Swedish media reported the names of the winners before the prize was announced.

4. The Nobel Prize in Literature 2023; Jon Fosse

“For his innovative plays and prose which give voice to the unsayable”

The Norwegian author and dramatist John Fosse was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature “for his innovative plays and prose which give voice to the unsayable”.

Jon Fosse — Fosse’s win, on the one hand, marks significant recognition of a non-Anglophone author, but on the other, Fosse being another Northern European Nobel winner invites criticism for a lack of inclusivity. [File: David Cliff/AP]

Fosse has written about 40 plays as well as novels, short stories, children’s books, poetry, and essays. His work has been translated into about 50 languages. He is aged 64.

5. The Nobel Peace Prize 2023; Narges Mohammadi

“For her fight against the oppression of women in Iran and her fight to promote human rights and freedom for all”

The Iranian rights activist won the Nobel Peace Prize after being chosen from 351 nominees.

Mohammadi, who has been has served multiple prison sentences for the past two decades, is best known for her fight for freedom and against the oppression of Iranian women.

“Woman, life, freedom,” said Berit Reiss-Andersen, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee. She recited the slogan that is now associated with the women’s movement in Iran as she announced Mohammadi as the winner.

Read:Who is Narges Mohammadi; the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize Winner

Who is Narges Mohammadi; the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize Winner

The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2023

The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2023 has not been awarded yet, the winner of the award is to be announced as of Monday, 9^th October 2023.