The ”miracle” discovery that reversed the diabetes death sentence

More than 100 years ago, Frederick Banting and John Macleod did experiments on dogs, with a successful outcome. Today, insulin continues to help some of the over 400 million people around the world with diabetes.

More Nobel Prize awarded work on insulin

Rosalyn Yalow

Proved the cause of Type 2 diabetes
Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin

Mapped the structure of insulin
Frederick Sanger

Studied the composition of the insulin molecule

Remembering Martin Luther King Jr.

“Peace is more precious than diamonds or silver or gold”

Martin Luther King Jr. dreamed of a USA in which all citizens would be assessed in terms of their personal characteristics, not their skin colour. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize 1964 for his non-violent struggle for civil rights in the United States.

Watch and read his acceptance speech
Martin Luther King’s Nobel Prize lecture
Biography

Nobel Prizes 2024

Physics

They used physics to find patterns in information

This year’s laureates used tools from physics to construct methods that helped lay the foundation for today’s powerful machine learning.
Chemistry

They cracked the code for proteins’ amazing structures

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2024 is about proteins, life’s ingenious chemical tools.
Physiology or medicine

Tiny RNAs with profound physiological importance

Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun discovered microRNA, a new class of tiny RNA molecules that play a crucial role in gene regulation.
Literature

Han Kang

The Nobel Prize in Literature 2024 is awarded to the South Korean author Han Kang, “for her intense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life.”
Peace

A powerful international norm stigmatising nuclear weapons

The grassroots movement of atomic bomb survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki, also known as Hibakusha, is receiving the Nobel Peace Prize for its efforts to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons and for demonstrating through witness testimony that nuclear weapons must never be used again.
Economic sciences

An explanation for why some countries are rich and others poor

This year’s laureates have provided new insights into why there are such vast differences in prosperity between nations.

One-minute crash course

What does microRNA do?

How much do you know about the discoveries awarded the 2024 Nobel Prizes? Take our one-minute crash course on each of the prizes and find out how each have changed our world.

Discover all crash courses

Nobel Prize lessons for students

Learn more about the Nobel Prizes with the ready-to-use Nobel Prize lessons. Watch the videos, look through the manual and slides, print the texts for students and start the class.

2018_NPS_India (315) — © Nobel Media. Photo: Alexander Mahmoud

Highlights from Nobel Week 2024

Nobel Prize award ceremony

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1 (of 23) Nobel Prize laureates at the award ceremony in Stockholm.

© Nobel Prize Outreach. Photo: Clément Morin

Two men shaking hands

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2 (of 23) Simon Johnson receiving his prize from H.M. King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden at Konserthuset Stockholm on 10 December 2024.

© Nobel Prize Outreach. Photo: Nanaka Adachi

Nobel Prize award ceremony 2024

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3 (of 23) The Nobel Prize award ceremony 2024.

© Nobel Prize Outreach. Photo: Nanaka Adachi

Nobel Prize banquet table of honour

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4 (of 23) Nobel Prize banquet table of honour

© Nobel Prize Outreach. Photo: Anna Svanberg

A woman speaking in a lectern

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5 (of 23) Han Kang delivering her banquet speech.

© Nobel Prize Outreach. Photo: Dan Lepp

A man in a lectern

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6 (of 23) Daron Acemoglu delivering his banquet speech.

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Artist and dancers

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7 (of 23) Swedish artist Laleh performing at the Nobel Prize banquet 2024.

© Nobel Prize Outreach. Photo: Anna Svanberg

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8 (of 23) The co-chairs of Nihon Hidankyo, Mr Terumi Tanaka, Mr Shigemitsu Tanaka and Mr Toshiyuki Mimaki, with the Chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Jørgen Watne Frydnes.

© Nobel Prize Outreach. Photo: Jo Straube

Demis Hassabis at the Nobel Foundation

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9 (of 23) Demis Hassabis with his Nobel Prize medal and diploma at the Nobel Foundation.

© Nobel Prize Outreach. Photo: Dan Lepp

Woman and children

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10 (of 23) Han Kang on a school visit in Rinkeby, Stockholm.

© Nobel Prize Outreach. Photo: Nanaka Adachi

A luminous light installation on Stadshuset, Stockholm

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11 (of 23) Nobel Week Lights 2024: ‘Leading Lights’ by Les Atelier BK is a luminous tribute to the brilliance of female pioneers. Drawing inspiration from extensive scientific and historical research, the piece is a grand celebration of their groundbreaking contributions to humanity.

Photo: Benoît Derrier. Artist: Les Atelier BK

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12 (of 23) Han Kang visited Swedish author Astrid Lindgren’s apartment in central Stockholm.

© Nobel Prize Outreach. Photo: Nanaka Adachi

Soprano singer singing in front of orchestra

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13 (of 23) Soprano Malin Byström, conductor Petr Popelka and the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra performed at the Nobel Prize Concert 2024.

© Nobel Prize Outreach. Photo: Niklas Elmehed

Han Kang literature lecture

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14 (of 23) Han Kang meeting people after her literature lecture at the Swedish Academy on 7 December.

© Nobel Prize Outreach. Photo: Anna Svanberg

A man in a lectern

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15 (of 23) John J. Hopfield delivering his Nobel Prize lecture in physics on 8 December 2024 at the Aula Magna, Stockholm University.

© Nobel Prize Outreach. Photo: Anna Svanberg

A aman in a lectern

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16 (of 23) John Jumper delivering his Nobel Prize lecture in chemistry on 8 December 2024 at the Aula Magna, Stockholm University.

© Nobel Prize Outreach. Photo: Anna Svanberg

Gary Ruvkun's Nobel Prize lecture

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17 (of 23) Nobel Prize lecture at Karolinska Institutet by Gary Ruvkun, Nobel Prize laureate in physiology or medicine 2024.

© Nobel Prize Outreach. Photo: Nanaka Adachi

Geoffrey Hinton signing a chair

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18 (of 23) Like many laureates before him, physics laureate Geoffrey Hinton signed a chair at the laureates’ get together at the Nobel Prize Museum in Stockholm on 6 December 2024.

© Nobel Prize Outreach. Photo: Nanaka Adachi

A man talking to a woman

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19 (of 23) Victor Ambros talking to a student after his Nobel Prize lecture at Karolinska Institutet.

© Nobel Prize Outreach. Photo: Nanaka Adachi

A man showing a chair with her signature

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20 (of 23) Economic sciences laureate James A. Robinson with his signed chair at the Nobel Prize Museum on 6 December 2024.

© Nobel Prize Outreach. Photo: Clément Morin.

A man in front of a dress

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21 (of 23) David Baker in front of a dress inspired by the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, made by Jane Elliotte Svahn and Alvaro Sanchez, and shown in the exhibition ‘Nobel Creations 2024’ at the Nobel Prize Museum.

© Nobel Prize Outreach. Photo: Anna Svanberg

Seven men and one woman standing together

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22 (of 23) Eight of the 2024 laureates assembled at the Nobel Prize Museum, 6 December 2024. Back row: Victor Ambros, Han Kang, David Baker and Demis Hassabis. Front row: James A. Robinson, Simon Johnson, John Jumper and Gary Ruvkun.

© Nobel Prize Outreach. Photo: Clément Morin.

A man entering a door

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23 (of 23) Chemistry laureate Demis Hassabis arriving at the laureates’ get together at the Nobel Prize Museum in Stockholm on 6 December 2024.

© Nobel Prize Outreach. Photo: Clément Morin.

Nobel Prize award ceremony 2024

“It lies in our hands to change the world”

Opening address by professor Astrid Söderbergh Widding, chair of the board of the Nobel Foundation

Watch the award ceremony

Nobel Prize banquet speeches

Physics – Geoffrey Hinton

“Unfortunately, the rapid progress in AI comes with many short-term risks”
Chemistry – David Baker

“Scientific breakthroughs do not happen in isolation”
Medicine – Gary Ruvkun

“Thousands of us now study this worm C. elegans, a genetic discovery powerhouse”
Literature – Han Kang

“Ever since I was a child, I have wanted to know. The reason we are born.”
Economic sciences – Daron Acemoglu

“Institutions are always about choices. What worries us also gives us hope.”

Nobel Prize lecture in literature

“Each time I work on a novel, I endure the questions, I live inside them”

Han Kang delivered her Nobel Prize lecture at the Swedish Academy.

Watch and read the lecture

Nobel Prize lectures

Medicine lectures

Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun.
Physics lectures

John J. Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton.
Chemistry lectures

David Baker, Demis Hassabis and John Jumper.
Economic sciences lectures

James A. Robinson, Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson.
Peace lecture

Terumi Tanaka from Nihon Hidankyo.

Watch Nobel Minds

Nobel Prize laureates in discussion

Watch six of the 2024 laureates talk about their research and careers in a unique roundtable discussion, Nobel Minds, moderated by BBC’s Zeinab Badawi.

Seven men and women sitting at a round tabel — Nobel Minds 2024.

© Nobel Prize Outreach. Photo: Clément Morin

Nobel Peace Prize Forum

Oslo

“There was a flash. Everything turned to white”

Keiko Ogura was eight when Hiroshima was bombed and was haunted for years afterwards by well-meaning actions to help survivors. The 2024 Nobel Peace Prize Forum “NUKES – How to counter the threat” focused on strategies to mitigate the risk of nuclear war and advance toward nuclear disarmament.

Keiko Ogura — ©Foto: Helene Mariussen/Nobel Prize Outreach

Nobel Week Dialogue

Is there a road towards health for all?

In the 2024 Nobel Week Dialogue: The Future of Health, Nobel Prize laureates and other experts gathered to discuss and envision our future. They explored ground-breaking medical advancements, disease prevention strategies, and innovative ways to enhance our lives.

Read more and watch the 2024 Nobel Week Dialogue

People on stage — © Nobel Prize Outreach. Photo: Anna Svanberg

Nobel Prize Concert 2024

A magnificent musical celebration of science

Swedish soprano Malin Byström and conductor Petr Popelka performed together with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra at the Nobel Prize Concert in Konserthuset Stockholm on 8 December. They performed a programme of dance-inspired music by Vítezslava Kaprálová, Richard Strauss and Sergei Rachmaninoff.

Watch the concert on Sveriges Television, SVT (Swedish viewers)
Watch the concert on the Nobel Prize Youtube channel (viewers abroad)
Listen to the concert on Swedish Radio

Soprano singer singing in front of orchestra — Soprano Malin Byström, conductor Petr Popelka and the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra performed at the Nobel Prize Concert 2024.

© Nobel Prize Outreach. Photo: Niklas Elmehed

Alfred Nobel

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This fast-paced game relies on a keen knowledge of food containing vitamin B1.

In memoriam

Sir J. Fraser Stoddart 1942–2024

Sir J. Fraser Stoddart passed away on 30 December 2024, aged 82. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2016 “for the design and synthesis of molecular machines”.

Sir J. Fraser Stoddart official Nobel portrait

Jimmy Carter passes away aged 100

Former US President Jimmy Carter passed away on 29 December 2024. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize 2002 “for his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development”.

Jimmy Carter

Martin Karplus dies aged 94

Chemist Martin Karplus passed away on 28 December 2024, aged 94. He was awarded the 2013 Nobel Prize in Chemistry “for the development of multiscale models for complex chemical systems”.

Martin Karplus

Leon N. Cooper passes away

Physicist Leon N. Cooper passed away on 23 October 2024. He was awarded the 1972 Nobel Prize in Physics “for their jointly developed theory of superconductivity, usually called the BCS-theory”.

Leon Neil Cooper