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 (2023) | |||
| 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 (Swedish: Nobelpriset i kemi) is a super important award given every 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, which has five members. The award ceremony happens in Stockholm, Sweden, every year on December 10th. This date is special because it's the day Alfred Nobel passed away.
The very 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 2023, 192 different people have won this prize. In 2023, Moungi G. Bawendi, Louis E. Brus, and Alexei I. Ekimov won for finding and developing tiny particles called quantum dots. As of 2022, eight women have won the Chemistry prize. These include Marie Curie, her daughter Irène Joliot-Curie, Dorothy Hodgkin, Ada Yonath, Frances Arnold, Emmanuelle Charpentier, Jennifer Doudna, and Carolyn R. Bertozzi.
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The Story Behind the Prize
Alfred Nobel was a Swedish inventor and businessman. He invented dynamite and became very wealthy. In his last will, he decided to use his money to create a series of prizes. He wanted to honor people who had done the "greatest good for mankind." These prizes were for achievements in physics, chemistry, peace, physiology or medicine, and literature.
Nobel signed his final will in Paris in 1895. He left most of his money, about 31 million Swedish kronor, to set up the five Nobel Prizes. This was a huge amount of money at the time! It took some time for his will to be officially approved. After it was, the Nobel Foundation was created. Their job was to manage Nobel's money and organize the prizes. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences was chosen to award the Prize in Chemistry, just as Nobel wished.
Receiving the Prize
The committees that choose the Nobel winners usually announce the names in October. Then, the formal award ceremonies take place on December 10th. This is a very special day in Stockholm.
The main part of the ceremony is when each winner steps forward. They receive their prize directly from the King of Sweden. Each Nobel winner gets three things:
- A special diploma
- A gold medal
- A document that confirms the prize money
After the ceremony, a big dinner called the Nobel Banquet is held. It takes place in the beautiful Stockholm City Hall.
A maximum of three people can share the Nobel Prize in Chemistry each year. Also, the prize can be given for up to two different discoveries.
How Winners Are Chosen
The Nobel Laureates in Chemistry are chosen by a special committee. This committee has five members who are elected by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. The process of choosing a winner is very careful and takes a long time.
First, thousands of people are asked to suggest candidates. These people are usually experts in their fields. The names of the nominees are kept secret for 50 years. This means you won't know who was nominated until many years later!
Next, the committee looks at all the suggested names. They create a list of about 200 possible candidates. Then, experts in chemistry review this list. They narrow it down to about 15 names. Finally, the committee sends its recommendations to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. This slow and thorough process is one reason why the Nobel Prize is so respected.
Sometimes, a scientist might pass away after being nominated but before the prize is announced. In such cases, they can still receive the award. However, someone cannot be nominated if they have already passed away.
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry often recognizes discoveries that have stood the test of time. This means there's usually a gap of about 20 years or more between the discovery and the award. This can be a challenge because some scientists might not live long enough to see their work recognized.
The Nobel Prize Awards
A winner of the Chemistry Nobel Prize receives a gold medal, a diploma with a special message, and a sum of money.
Nobel Prize Medals
The medal for the Nobel Prize in Chemistry looks just like the one for the Nobel Prize in Physics. On the back, it shows the Goddess of Nature, who looks like Isis. She is coming out of clouds and holding a cornucopia (a horn of plenty). The Genius of Science is lifting a veil from Nature's face.
The medal was designed by Erik Lindberg. It has a Latin phrase inscribed on it: "Inventas vitam iuvat excoluisse per artes." This means, "It is beneficial to have improved (human) life through discovered arts." The winner's name is also engraved on a plate below the figures.
Nobel Prize Diplomas
Nobel winners get their diploma directly from the King of Sweden. Each diploma is unique and specially designed for the person receiving it. The diploma usually has a picture and text. It states the winner's name and explains why they received the prize.
Award Money
Along with the medal and diploma, winners receive a document that shows the amount of money they get. This amount can change each year. It depends on how much money the Nobel Foundation has available. For example, in 2009, the prize was 10 million Swedish Krona (about US$1.4 million). In 2012, it was 8 million Swedish Krona (about US$1.1 million).
If two people share the prize, the money is usually split equally between them. If there are three winners, the committee might divide it equally. Or, they might give half to one person and a quarter to each of the other two.
Nobel Laureates in Chemistry by Country
| Country | Laureates |
|---|---|
 United States |
79 |
 Germany |
34 |
 United Kingdom |
|
 France |
11 |
 Japan |
8 |
 Switzerland |
7 |
 Israel |
6 |
 Canada |
5 |
 Sweden |
|
 Netherlands |
4 |
 Hungary |
3 |
 Austria |
2 |
 Denmark |
|
 New Zealand |
|
 Norway |
|
 Poland |
|
 Argentina |
1 |
 Australia |
|
 Belgium |
|
 Czech Republic |
|
 Egypt |
|
 Finland |
|
 Italy |
|
 Mexico |
|
 Romania |
|
 Russia |
|
 Turkey |
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 Taiwan |
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 Tunisia |
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 Bosnia and Herzegovina |
What Kind of Discoveries Win?
Sometimes, people wonder about the types of discoveries that win the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. In recent years, some chemists have felt that the prize sometimes goes to scientists who aren't strictly "chemists." For example, in the 30 years leading up to 2012, ten Chemistry prizes were given for work in biochemistry or molecular biology. These fields combine biology and chemistry. One prize even went to a materials scientist.
The Economist magazine explained why this might happen. Alfred Nobel's will only listed prizes for physics, chemistry, literature, medicine, and peace. Biology was a very new science back then, so he didn't create a prize for it. There's also no Nobel Prize for mathematics, which is another big science field. So, sometimes, important discoveries in biology or materials science that are closely related to chemistry might win the Chemistry prize.
A study in 2020 looked at Nobel Prizes in science from 1995 to 2017. It found that many prizes were given in just a few specific areas within the broader fields. For chemistry, molecular chemistry was the most common area to win.
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
- List of female nominees for the Nobel Prize
