History of Nobel Prize

• The foundation of Nobel Prize was laid by Alfred Nobel, on 27th November 1895.
• Alfred Nobel was a Swedish chemist who invented Dynamite.
• He signed his last testimony and gave away a large share of his possession and fortunes to a series of prizes in the fields of literature, physics, chemistry, physiology and peace.
• A 6th prize, in economics, was established in 1968 by Sveriges Riksbank (the Swedish central bank) and is known as the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in memory of Alfred Nobel.
• The first Nobel Prizes were awarded in the year 1901, which is five years after Nobel Alfred’s death.

Nomination for Nobel Prize

• Nomination forms are sent by the Nobel Committee to about 3,000 individuals. It is basically done in September the year before the prizes are awarded.
• The deadline for the return of the nomination forms is 31st January of the year of the award when it is to be presented.
• Members of academies, university professors, scientists, ex-Nobel laureates along with members of parliamentary assemblies from various countries are asked to nominate candidates who are eligible to receive the award.
• Then the Nobel Committee nominates about 300 potential Laureates from these forms and additional names.
• These nominees are not named publicly, nor are they informed that they are being considered for the prize.
• All nomination records for a prize are sealed for 50 years from the awarding of the prize.
• The names of the candidates are then sent to Norwegian Nobel Committee in Oslo for consideration where winners are chosen through majority votes.

Nobel Prize Ceremonies

• All Nobel Prizes are awarded in Stockholm, Sweden, except for the Nobel Peace Prize, which is awarded in Oslo, Norway.
• Winners are announced at the beginning of October every year.
• Nobel Winners receive their award from Swedish King.
• For the ceremony, the gentlemen are required to wear white tie and tails, while ladies should be dressed in an evening gown.
• Nobel laureates receive a Nobel diploma, a medal and 10 million Swedish crowns (INR 80846203.04) per prize.
• The highlight of the Nobel Prize Award Ceremony in Stockholm is the moment when each Nobel laureate steps forward to receive the prize from the King of Sweden.

50 Year Secrecy Rule 

Information in the Nobel Committee’s nominations is not published until after 50 years. Committee members are not allowed to spill out the names of the candidates nominated for the Nobel Prize.

Nobel Banquet

• A banquet is held in the Blue Hall at the Stockholm City Hall after the award ceremony in Sweden which is attended by the Swedish Royal Family including 1,300 guests.
• The Nobel Peace Prize banquet is held in Norway at the Oslo Grand Hotel right after the award ceremony.
• Apart from the Laureate, the guests include the President of the Storting, the Prime Minister, and, since 2006, the King and Queen of Norway.

Nobel Lecture

• Each Nobel Laureate is required to give a Public Lecture on a subject related to the topic of their prize according to the statutes of the Nobel Foundation.
• The Nobel lecture took decades to reach its current format.
• These lectures normally occur during Nobel Week, though this is not mandatory. The Laureate is only obliged to give the lecture within 6 months of receiving the prize. However, some of the lectures have happened even later.
• For example, US President Theodore Roosevelt received the Peace Prize in 1906 but gave his lecture in 1910, after his term in office. The lectures are organised by the same association who have selected the Laureates.

Types of Nobel prizes: Medals, Diploma and Money

Medals

• Nobel Prize medals are registered trademarks of the Nobel Foundation.
• Each medal features an image of Alfred Nobel in left profile showing along with the years of his birth and death.
• All medals made before 1980 were struck in 23-carat gold. But since then, they have been struck in 18-carat green gold plated with 24-carat gold.
• The weight of each medal varies according to the value of gold. However, it averages about 175 grams for each medal.

Diplomas

• Nobel Laureates receive a diploma from the King of Sweden.
• In the case of the peace prize, it is received by the Chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee.
• Each diploma is uniquely designed by the Prize-Awarding Institutions for the Laureates who receive them.
• The diploma contains a picture and text in Swedish which states the name of the Laureate and usually a citation of the reason they received the prize.
• None of the Nobel Peace Prize Laureates have ever had a citation on their diplomas.

Award Money

• The Laureates are awarded a sum of money when they receive their prizes, in the form of a document confirming the amount awarded.
• The amount of the prize money depends on how much money the Nobel Foundation is awardingeach year.

Now that you have gone through Nobel Prize Winners 2017 for Banking & SSC Exams, we hope you were benefited. Now all you have to do is run through the list carefully to easily memorize the names of the recipients and the contribution they have made in their respective fields.