Process of selecting candidates for Nobel Prize in Physics

Every September, the Nobel Council secretly sends a nomination form to about 3,000 professors. March - May, experts evaluate the work of candidates. In September of the following year, the Nobel Committee nominated winners to select the majority of votes.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences is responsible for selecting the Nobel Prize in Physics among the nominees nominated by the Nobel Committee in the field of Physics. The Nobel Committee is a committee that screened nominations and selected final candidates.

The council consists of 5 members, but after many years of operation, the Council is supplemented with the assistant members who have the right to vote on par with the official members.

Qualified candidates are those nominated by qualified people. Qualified people are those who receive an invitation from the Nobel Council and have been carefully selected. No one has the right to nominate themselves.

How was the Nobel Prize selected?

The figure below describes the selection process for the Nobel Prize in Physics.

September: Nomination form submitted. The Nobel Council secretly sends nomination forms to about 3,000 people - selected professors at universities around the world, who have won Nobel Prizes in the field of physics and chemistry, members of the Royal Swedish Academy, and some others.

February: application deadline. Completed nominations must be submitted to the Nobel Committee on the 31st of January in the following year. The council screened and selected the original candidates. There are between 250 and 350 selected names, of which some candidates often receive many nominations.

March - May: Consult with experts. The Nobel Council sends the names of the original candidates to specially appointed experts to evaluate the candidates' works.

June - August: Report writing. The Nobel Council gathers forwarded reports to the Academy. This report was signed by the board members.

September: Council makes recommendations. The Nobel Council released a report introducing the final candidates for Academy members. The report was discussed at two meetings of the Academy's physical subcommittee.

October: Nobel Prize selected. In early October, the Academy selected the winners based on the majority of votes. This option is the final and non-retroactive decision (not reviewed). Then the winner's name was announced.

December: Award presentation. The Nobel Prize Ceremony took place in Stockholm on December 10. Here the winner will receive a prestigious Nobel Prize including a Nobel Medal, a diploma and a certificate of recognition of the prize money.

Is the nomination list publicly available?

The Nobel organization's regulations do not publish information about candidates, whether they are public or private for 50 years. Restrictions on information relate to both candidates and nominees, as well as investigations and opinions regarding award decisions.