Every year, the prestigious Nobel Prize is given to honour those who have made outstanding contribution in the fields of science, literature and social service.

Between 1901 and 2014, the Nobel Prizes and the Prize in Economic Sciences has been awarded 567 times. 

The 2015 Nobel Prizes for Physiology or Medicine, Physics, and Chemistry were announced this week in Sweden. This year’s Nobel Prizes will be awarded on December 10th in a ceremony that will be held in Stockholm, Sweden. 

In 1895, Alfred Nobel signed his last will and testament, giving the largest share of his fortune to a series of prizes in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature and Peace – the Nobel Prizes. Since the start, in 1901 till 2014, the Nobel Prizes has been awarded 567 times and includes 864 Laureates and 25 organizations. 860 individuals and 22 unique organizations have received the Nobel Prize in total.

The 2015 Awards

• Nobel Prize winners in Literature has been awarded to One Journalist
• Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded to two scientists
• Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine has been awarded to three scientists
• Nobel Prize winners in Chemistry has been awarded to three scientists
• Nobel Peace Prize Is Awarded to National Dialogue Quartet in Tunisia
• The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences has not been awarded yet. It will be announced on Monday 12 October, 1:00 p.m. CET

Here is the list of the winners of this year’s Nobel Prize in the field of literature, physics, chemistry and medicine:

The Nobel Peace Prize 2015

A coalition of labor union leaders, businesspeople, lawyers and human rights activists won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for what the Nobel committee called “its decisive contribution to the building of a pluralistic democracy in Tunisia in the wake of the Jasmine Revolution of 2011.”

Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet has awarded 2015 Nobel Peace Prize for its role during the country’s transition to democracy in the wake of the Jasmine Revolution of 2011

The quartet comprises four organizations: the Tunisian General Labor Union; the Tunisian Confederation of Industry, Trade and Handicrafts; the Tunisian Human Rights League; and the Tunisian Order of Lawyers. But the Norwegian Nobel Committee emphasized that the prize “is awarded to this quartet, not to the four individual organizations as such.”

 

The Nobel Prize in Literature 2015

Svetlana Alexievich

Belarusian investigative journalist and prose writer Svetlana Alexievich has been awarded the 2015 Nobel Prize “for her polyphonic writings, a monument to suffering and courage in our time”.

Being the 14th woman to win the prize, member of the Swedish Academy Sara Danius has referred to Alexeivich’s work as a “monument to suffering and courage in our time”.

The Nobel Prize in Physics 2015

Takaaki Kajita and Arthur B. McDonald

The Nobel Prize in Physics 2015 was awarded jointly to Japanese physicist Takaaki Kajita and Canadian astrophysicist Arthur B. McDonald “for the discovery of neutrino oscillations, which shows neutrinos have mass”.

On receiving the prestigious award, Kajita said that it was “unbelievable”, thanking the “neutrinos” for his success. He also said at a press conference in Tokyo: “And since neutrinos are created by cosmic rays, I want to thank them, too.”

Neutrinos are subatomic particles produced by the decay of radioactive elements, and earlier were believed to have no electric charge. Kajita, at the University of Tokyo, and McDonald, at the Queen’s University in Kingston, proved otherwise, showing that neutrinos indeed have mass.

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2015

Tomas Lindahl, Paul Modrich and Aziz Sancar

Tomas Lindahl, Paul Modrich and Aziz Sancar were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2015 “for mechanistic studies of DNA repair”.

These three pioneers discovered how cells repair their DNA and protect it from assaults that the body and the environment put them through.

Dr. Lindahl from Sweden was honored for discovering ‘how cells generally fix DNA damage’, while Dr. Modrich, the James B. Duke Professor of Biochemistry at Duke University, was recognized ‘for showing how cells correct mistakes in DNA replication during cell division’, and Turkish Biochemist Dr. Sancar ‘for mapping how cells repair DNA damage from ultraviolet light’.

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2015

This year, three scientists have won the Nobel prize in medicine for their discoveries concerning malaria and infections caused by roundworm parasites.

William C. Campbell and Satoshi Omura

Irish-born American biologist Dr. William C. Campbell and Japanese biochemist Satoshi Omura have jointly been awarded “for their discoveries concerning a novel therapy against infections caused by roundworm parasites”

The two researchers have discovered avermectin, a treatment for roundworm parasites.

Tu Youyou

The other half of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2015 has been given to Tu Youyou “for her discoveries concerning a novel therapy against Malaria”.

The 84-year old Chinese pharmacologist has been recognized for her discovery of artemisinin, a drug that has the most rapid action against Plasmodium falciparum malaria.