Nobel Prize in Chemistry facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Nobel Prize in Chemistry |
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| Presented by | Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences | |||
| Location | Stockholm, Sweden | |||
| Reward | 11 million SEK (2024) | |||
| First awarded | 1901 | |||
| Last awarded | 2024 | |||
| Currently held by | David Baker, Demis Hassabis and John M. Jumper (2024) | |||
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The Nobel Prize in Chemistry is a very important award given each year. It celebrates scientists who have made amazing discoveries in chemistry. This prize is one of five Nobel Prizes created by Alfred Nobel in 1895. The other prizes are for physics, literature, peace, and medicine.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences gives out the Chemistry Prize. They get help from the Nobel Committee for Chemistry. The award ceremony happens every year in Stockholm, Sweden, on December 10th. This date is special because it's the day Alfred Nobel passed away.
The first Nobel Prize in Chemistry was given in 1901. It went to Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff from the Netherlands. He won for his work on how chemicals react and how liquids behave. From 1901 to 2024, 195 people have received this award. In 2024, Demis Hassabis and John Jumper won for predicting protein structures. David Baker also won for designing proteins using computers.
Only a few women have won the prize. These include Marie Curie (1911), her daughter Irène Joliot-Curie (1935), Dorothy Hodgkin (1964), Ada Yonath (2009), Frances Arnold (2018), Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna (2020), and Carolyn R. Bertozzi (2022).
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About Alfred Nobel and the Prizes
Alfred Nobel was a Swedish inventor and businessman. He invented dynamite and became very wealthy. In his last will, he decided that his money should be used to create prizes. These prizes would honor people who had done the "greatest good for humankind." He wanted to reward achievements in physics, chemistry, peace, medicine, and literature.
Nobel signed his final will in Paris on November 27, 1895. He left most of his money, about 31 million Swedish kronor, for these prizes. This was a huge amount of money at the time. It took some time for his will to be officially approved. This happened on April 26, 1897, in Norway.
After the will was approved, the Nobel Foundation was created. Its job was to manage Nobel's money and organize the prizes. Different groups were chosen to award each prize. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences was given the task of choosing the winners for the Chemistry Prize.
Award Ceremony and Celebration
The committees that choose the Nobel winners usually announce the names in October. The actual awards are given out at special ceremonies on December 10th. This is a very formal event.
After the ceremony, a big dinner called the Nobel Banquet is held. It takes place in the Stockholm City Hall. It's a grand celebration for the winners and their guests.
How Winners Are Chosen
The winners of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry are chosen by a special committee. This committee has five members from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. The process of choosing a winner is very careful and takes a long time.
- Step 1: Nominations
* Thousands of experts around the world are asked to suggest candidates. * The names of these nominees are kept secret for 50 years. * This secrecy helps make sure the process is fair.
- Step 2: Review and Shortlist
* The committee looks at all the nominations. * They create a list of about 200 possible candidates. * This list is then sent to other experts in the field. * These experts help narrow the list down to about 15 names.
- Step 3: Final Decision
* The committee then writes a report with their recommendations. * They send this report to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. * The Academy makes the final decision on who wins the prize.
It's important that the work being recognized has been "tested by time." This means that discoveries often need about 20 years to show their full importance. Sometimes, it can take even longer. This careful process is why the Nobel Prize is so respected.
A maximum of three people can share the Nobel Prize in Chemistry each year. They can be recognized for up to two different discoveries.
What Winners Receive
A Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry gets three things:
- A special gold medal.
- A diploma that is unique and designed just for them.
- A sum of money.
Nobel Prize Medals
The medal for the Chemistry Prize looks just like the one for the Nobel Prize in Physics. On the back, it shows the Goddess of Nature. She is shown coming out of clouds, holding a cornucopia (a symbol of plenty). The Genius of Science is lifting a veil from Nature's face.
The medal has a Latin phrase on it: "Inventas vitam iuvat excoluisse per artes." This means "It is beneficial to have improved life through discovered arts." The winner's name is also carved on a plate below the figures.
Nobel Prize Diplomas
Each Nobel winner gets their diploma directly from the King of Sweden. Every diploma is a unique piece of art. It has a picture and text that names the winner. It also explains why they received the prize.
Award Money
The amount of money given with the prize can change each year. It depends on how much funding the Nobel Foundation has. For example, in 2009, the prize was 10 million Swedish Krona. In 2012, it was 8 million Swedish Krona.
If two people win, they share the money equally. If three people win, the committee might divide it equally. Or, they might give half to one person and a quarter to each of the other two.
Nobel Winners by Country
Here's a look at how many Nobel Prizes in Chemistry have been won by scientists from different countries:
| Country | Laureates |
|---|---|
 United States |
80 |
 United Kingdom |
35 |
 Germany |
34 |
 France |
11 |
 Japan |
8 |
 Switzerland |
7 |
 Israel |
6 |
 Canada |
5 |
 Hungary |
|
 Sweden |
|
 Netherlands |
4 |
 Austria |
2 |
 Denmark |
|
 New Zealand |
|
 Norway |
|
 Poland |
|
 Argentina |
1 |
 Australia |
|
 Belgium |
|
 Czech Republic |
|
 Egypt |
|
 Finland |
|
 Italy |
|
 Mexico |
|
 Romania |
|
 Russia |
|
 Turkey |
|
 Taiwan |
|
 Tunisia |
|
 Yugoslavia |
Why the Prize Covers Different Fields
Sometimes, people wonder why the Nobel Prize in Chemistry is given for work that seems more like biochemistry or materials science. This is because Alfred Nobel set up the prizes a long time ago. At that time, fields like biology were just starting. He didn't create a separate prize for biology.
So, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has to fit new discoveries into the existing prize categories. This means that important work in areas like biochemistry often gets recognized under the Chemistry Prize. There is also no Nobel Prize for mathematics, which is another big field of study.
Also, Nobel said that no more than three people could win a prize. Today, many big scientific discoveries are made by huge teams of scientists. This rule can make it tricky to recognize everyone involved in modern research.
See also
In Spanish: Premio Nobel de Química para niños
- List of Nobel laureates in Chemistry
- List of chemistry awards
- List of Nobel laureates
- Nobel laureates by country
