2024–2026
The discoveries, writing and work for peace behind three years of awards.
20266 of 6 prizes announced
18 prize entries
They developed optogenetics, a way to control nerve cells with light using light-sensitive proteins found in algae.
Why it matters
It lets researchers test how particular brain circuits affect memory and behaviour. Possible medical uses still need evidence from clinical research.
Official announcementHe led the development of IceCube, a detector buried in Antarctic ice that found high-energy neutrinos from beyond our solar system.
Why it matters
Neutrinos are tiny particles that rarely interact with matter. They carry clues about distant cosmic events that light alone cannot provide.
Official announcementMost neutrinos pass through the ice without interacting.
Some molecules come in two mirror-image forms, like left and right hands. Their discoveries showed how reactions can produce mostly, or only, one form.
Why it matters
Choosing the right form matters in medicine: two mirror-image molecules can have different effects in the body.
Official announcementThe Canadian writer combines poetry, essays and translation, often reworking ancient Greek and Roman writing in modern settings.
Why it matters
Autobiography of Red retells an ancient Greek myth as a modern novel in verse, a story told through poetry rather than prose.
Official announcementThe committee recognised the South African judge's work to strengthen international law and bring those responsible for war crimes to trial.
Why it matters
The award reflects the committee's view that courts and shared legal rules help countries resolve conflicts without force.
Official announcementThey built economic models around the decisions of households and businesses, including how expectations about the future affect spending, saving and prices.
Why it matters
Their work helps governments and central banks assess how interest rates, public spending and communication can respond to recessions or inflation.
Official announcementThey discovered cells and genetic controls that help stop the immune system attacking the body.
Why it matters
This helps researchers study cancer and autoimmune diseases, where the immune system attacks healthy tissue. Several possible treatments were still in clinical trials when the prize was announced.
Official announcementThey showed that an electrical circuit can cross an energy barrier through quantum tunnelling and exchange energy in fixed steps.
Why it matters
Their experiments helped make quantum computers based on electrical circuits possible.
Official announcementThey built crystals with tiny spaces inside, using metal ions, or charged atoms, joined by carbon-based molecules.
Why it matters
These materials, called metal-organic frameworks, can trap gases or collect water from air, depending on their design.
Official announcementHis fiction explores threatening, unstable worlds and the place of art within them.
Why it matters
His stories ask how people seek meaning when familiar social order breaks down.
Official announcementThe committee recognised her work for democratic rights and a peaceful political transition in Venezuela.
Why it matters
The award highlighted the committee’s view that civic participation and representative government are connected to peace.
Official announcementMokyr explained historical conditions for lasting growth. Aghion and Howitt modelled how new inventions drive growth while replacing older products.
Why it matters
Their research helps explain both the benefits of innovation and the conflicts it creates for established businesses.
Official announcementThey discovered microRNA, tiny molecules that help control which proteins a cell makes.
Why it matters
Their work revealed a basic control system that helps cells develop and carry out different jobs.
Official announcementThey used ideas from physics to build computer networks that remember patterns and learn from data.
Why it matters
Their methods helped lay the groundwork for machine learning, including systems that recognise images.
Official announcementBaker developed ways to design new proteins. Hassabis and Jumper developed AI that predicts proteins’ three-dimensional shapes.
Why it matters
Protein shape helps explain what these molecules do, giving researchers tools to investigate disease and design useful materials.
Official announcementHer fiction examines painful history, loss and the vulnerability of people.
Why it matters
Books such as Human Acts explore how violence and grief continue to shape lives long afterwards.
Official announcementThis Japanese organisation shares atomic-bomb survivors’ experiences and works towards the elimination of nuclear weapons.
Why it matters
The committee recognised how survivors’ testimony helps later generations understand the human consequences of nuclear war.
Official announcementThey studied how societies develop institutions, such as laws and systems of government, and how these affect prosperity.
Why it matters
Their research helps explain why differences in political power and legal protections can have lasting economic effects.
Official announcement