The Swedish flag above the stage of the Stockholm Concert Hall during the 2003 Nobel Prize Award Ceremony.

© The Nobel Foundation 2003. Photo: Hans Mehlin

A bust of Alfred Nobel takes centre stage, surrounded by beautiful flowers donated by the city of Sanremo in Italy, where Alfred Nobel spent the last few years of his life, and where he died on 10 December 1896.

© The Nobel Foundation 2003. Photo: Hans Mehlin

The Nobel Laureates enter the stage.

© The Nobel Foundation 2003. Photo: Hans Mehlin

Crown Princess Victoria during the Nobel Prize Award Ceremony at the Concert Hall.

© Pressens Bild AB 2003, S-112 88 Stockholm, Sweden, telephone: +46(0)87383800. Photo: Henrik Montgomery

The Swedish Royal Family in the front row (left to right): Princess Lilian, King Carl XVI Gustaf, Queen Silvia and Crown Princess Victoria. In the back row: Princess Madeleine and Prince Carl Philip.

© The Nobel Foundation 2003. Photo: Hans Mehlin

The 2003 Nobel Prize Award Ceremony begins. Onstage are the 2003 Nobel Laureates, the Swedish Royal Family, previous Nobel Laureates, and members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Nobel Assembly of Karolinska Institutet, the Swedish Academy and the Board of Directors of the Nobel Foundation.

© The Nobel Foundation 2003. Photo: Hans Mehlin

The Swedish Royal Family in the front row (left to right) Princess Lilian, King Carl XVI Gustaf, Queen Silvia and Crown Princess Victoria. Somewhat hidden are Princess Madeleine and Prince Carl Philip, with members of the Nobel Prize Awarding Institutions standing behind them.

© The Nobel Foundation 2003. Photo: Hans Mehlin

From left to right: Physics Laurerates Alexei A. Abrikosov, Vitaly L. Ginzburg and Anthony J. Leggett, Chemistry Laureates Peter Agre and Roderick MacKinnon, and Medicine Laureate Paul C. Lauterbur.

© The Nobel Foundation 2003. Photo: Hans Mehlin

A close-up of the Swedish Royal Family.

© The Nobel Foundation 2003. Photo: Hans Mehlin

The boxes containing the Nobel medals at the 2003 Nobel Prize Award Ceremony in Stockholm.

© The Nobel Foundation 2003. Photo: Hans Mehlin

Right to left: Laureates in Economic Sciences Clive W.J. Granger and Robert F. Engle, Literature Laureate John M. Coetzee, and Medicine Laureate Sir Peter Mansfield.

© Pressens Bild AB 2003, S-112 88 Stockholm, Sweden, telephone: +46(0)87383800. Photo: Henrik Montgomery

Nobel Laureate in Chemistry Peter Agre shows his medal to his wife after the 2003 Nobel Prize Award Ceremony inside the Stockholm Concert Hall.

© Pressens Bild AB 2003, S-112 88 Stockholm, Sweden, telephone: +46(0)87383800. Photo: Henrik Montgomery

Nobel Laureate in Literature, John M. Coetzee, center. The South African ambassador to Sweden Sonto Kudjoe, left, and her husband Dr John Kudjoe, right, after the 2003 Nobel Prize Award Ceremony at the Stockholm Concert Hall.

© Pressens Bild AB 2003, S-112 88 Stockholm, Sweden, telephone: +46(0)87383800. Photo: Jonas Ekströmer