This year's Nobel Prize announcements begin on the 5th with the prize in physiology or medicine, followed by physics on the 6th, chemistry on the 7th, literature on the 8th, peace on the 9th and economics on the 12th. With wars spreading across the globe, attention is focused on the peace prize in particular.
A total of 287 nominations were submitted for the peace prize, including 208 individuals and 79 organizations. Greta Thunberg, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the International Criminal Court (ICC) are reported to be among them, and U.S. President Donald Trump also appears to have been nominated by Israel, Pakistan and others. South Korean citizens, who overcame the Dec. 3 emergency martial law crisis through nonviolent civic participation, are also believed to be among the nominees. Kim Eui-young, a professor of political science and international relations at Seoul National University, has said that a group of political scientists, including current and former presidents of the International Political Science Association, nominated South Korea's "Citizen Collective" in January this year.
The Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) named Mykola Kuleba, founder of Save Ukraine, and Sudan's Emergency Response Rooms as candidates. Save Ukraine has carried out operations to bring back Ukrainian children taken to Russia and Russian-occupied territories. Sudan's Emergency Response Rooms have supported the distribution of food and medicine and the supply of water and electricity during the civil war that has continued since 2023.
For the physics prize, Chihaya Adachi of Kyushu University is cited for research on organic light-emitting diodes (OLED). For chemistry, David Liu of Harvard University is mentioned for base and prime editing technology, and for economics, Susan Athey of Stanford University is among the names raised.
In literature, Can Xue, called "China's Kafka," is the favorite at the British betting site Ladbrokes. Haruki Murakami, Cristina Rivera Garza and Lidia Jorge are among the contenders, while Hwang Sok-yong and Ko Un are on the list of expected candidates from South Korea.
The Nobel Foundation raised the prize money this year to mark the 125th anniversary of the awards. The award for each category rose by 1 million kronor to 12 million kronor (about 1.6 billion won) from 11 million kronor last year. The foundation said the decision was aimed at preserving the long-term significance of the prize and the value of the award. Recipients receive a medal and a diploma along with the prize money.
