Quick answer: Nobel Prizes are decided by invitation-only nomination, an eight-month assessment, and a final vote in early October. Three laureates maximum, no posthumous awards, no self-nomination, and all records sealed for 50 years. A full prize pays 11 million Swedish kronor.
Almost everything surprising about the Nobel Prize comes from four rules that have barely moved in a century.
The annual cycle
| When | What happens |
|---|---|
| September | Committees send confidential nomination forms to thousands of qualified nominators worldwide. |
| 31 January | Nomination deadline. Names arriving later count for the following year. |
| February to August | Committees screen candidates and commission expert reports, often from specialists outside the committee. |
| September | Committees submit recommendations to the awarding institutions. |
| Early October | The institutions vote, usually by majority. The decision is final and cannot be appealed. |
| 10 December | Ceremonies in Stockholm and Oslo, on the anniversary of Alfred Nobel's death. |
The announcements themselves are made within days of the vote, which is why laureates are famously woken by a phone call from Sweden with no warning. In 2026 the announcements run from 5 to 12 October.
Who actually decides
There is no single Nobel committee. Five separate bodies award the six prizes:
- Physics, Chemistry and Economic Sciences: the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
- Physiology or Medicine: the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute, 50 professors.
- Literature: the Swedish Academy, 18 seats.
- Peace: a five-member committee appointed by the Norwegian parliament, working in Oslo.
Each has a working committee that does the year's assessment and reports to the wider body. The Norwegian arrangement comes directly from Nobel's will, which named the Norwegian parliament without explaining why.
Rule one: you cannot apply
There is no application. Nominations come only from people the institutions have invited, and the categories are specific: previous laureates, members of the awarding academies, professors in relevant subjects at selected universities, and for the Peace Prize also serving members of national governments, international court judges, and university rectors in relevant fields.
Thousands of nominators are invited each year, which is why the annual claim that someone has "been nominated for a Nobel Prize" carries less weight than it sounds. A single qualified professor can nominate anyone. Nominating yourself, on the other hand, disqualifies you.
Rule two: three people, maximum
A prize may be divided between at most three laureates, and among at most two separate contributions. Alfred Nobel wrote in an era of the lone genius. Modern physics papers can carry three thousand authors.
The consequences are structural rather than accidental. The 2017 gravitational wave prize went to three people out of a collaboration of more than a thousand. The rule also pushes committees toward older discoveries with clearer attribution, which is part of why the average age of laureates has been climbing for decades.
The Peace Prize is the exception that proves it: it can be awarded to organisations, which is how the International Committee of the Red Cross has won three times.
Rule three: the living only
Since 1974 the statutes bar posthumous awards, unless a laureate dies after the announcement but before the ceremony. Before that change, two posthumous prizes were given: Erik Axel Karlfeldt in literature in 1931, and Dag Hammarskjöld for peace in 1961, months after he died in a plane crash.
One case tested the rule hard. In 2011 Ralph Steinman was announced as a medicine laureate, and it emerged hours later that he had died three days earlier. The Foundation ruled that the decision had been made in good faith and let it stand.
The rule creates a specific kind of injustice. Rosalind Franklin died in 1958, four years before the DNA prize built on her data. Committees that wait a decade to be sure of a discovery are, in effect, running a clock on the candidates.
Rule four: sealed for 50 years
Nominations, shortlists, committee reports and votes are secret for half a century. The Nobel Prize maintains a public nomination archive, and it currently ends in the mid-1970s.
Two practical consequences. First, every autumn prediction about the shortlist is guesswork, including the ones from academics and bookmakers. Second, the arguments we can have about the committee's judgment are always 50 years out of date, which is roughly how we learned that Gandhi was nominated five times and that Lise Meitner was nominated dozens of times without winning.
The money, and where it comes from
Nobel left about 31 million Swedish kronor in 1895. The Nobel Foundation invests it, and the prize amount tracks what the endowment can sustainably pay. It has moved up and down over the decades and currently sits at 11 million kronor per full prize.
Laureates also receive a gold medal, an individually designed diploma, and an obligation: each must deliver a Nobel lecture, normally within six months. The lectures are public and freely available, and they are the most under-read primary source in science communication.
Can you refuse it?
Yes. Jean-Paul Sartre declined the 1964 literature prize, saying a writer should not allow himself to be turned into an institution. Le Duc Tho declined the 1973 Peace Prize, awarded jointly with Henry Kissinger, on the grounds that there was no peace in Vietnam.
Others were forced to decline. Adolf Hitler's regime barred three German laureates from accepting in the late 1930s, and Boris Pasternak accepted then withdrew in 1958 under pressure from Soviet authorities. In each case the medal and diploma were later provided, but the prize money was not.
Five-minute version
The announcement schedule, the rules and four free courses are on our Nobel Prize week 2026 page. Hidden Secrets of the Nobel Prize covers the 50-year vault and the missing mathematics prize in five short lessons, and the history of the Nobel Prize explains how a dynamite fortune ended up funding all of it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who can nominate someone for a Nobel Prize?
Only qualified nominators invited by the awarding institutions. The categories differ by prize but typically include previous laureates, members of the awarding academies, professors in relevant fields at selected universities, and for the Peace Prize also members of national governments and international courts. Nominations are by invitation, not open application.
Can you nominate yourself for a Nobel Prize?
No. Self-nomination disqualifies a candidate outright. This is one of the few rules the Nobel Foundation states in absolute terms.
Why can only three people share a Nobel Prize?
Alfred Nobel's will framed the awards around individuals, and the statutes cap a prize at three laureates. Modern science is done in large collaborations, so the rule regularly leaves out people who did essential work. It is the most criticised feature of the system, and the Foundation has so far declined to change it.
Can a Nobel Prize be awarded after death?
Not since a 1974 statute change, unless the laureate dies between the announcement and the December ceremony. Two people were awarded posthumously before the rule changed: Erik Axel Karlfeldt in 1931 and Dag Hammarskjöld in 1961. In 2011 Ralph Steinman died three days before his medicine prize was announced, and the Foundation let the award stand.
Why are Nobel nominations secret for 50 years?
The statutes seal nominations, shortlists and committee deliberations for half a century to protect candidates and let committees deliberate frankly. It means any report about who is on this year's shortlist is speculation, and that the historical record of the process is always 50 years behind.
How much money do Nobel laureates get?
11 million Swedish kronor per full prize, around one million euros, divided if shared. The money comes from the returns on the endowment Alfred Nobel left in his 1895 will, managed by the Nobel Foundation. Laureates also receive a gold medal and a diploma, and must give a Nobel lecture.
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