2020 Nobel Prizes
The 2020 Nobel Prizes were awarded by the Nobel Foundation, based in Sweden. Six categories were awarded: Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, Peace, and Economic Sciences.[1]
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, programming for Nobel Week was limited, with some ceremonies and events taking place virtually.[2]
Prizes
[edit]Physics
[edit]| Awardee(s) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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|
Roger Penrose
(b. 1931) |
 British
|
"for the discovery that black hole formation is a robust prediction of the general theory of relativity" | [3] |
|
Reinhard Genzel
(b. 1952) |
 German
|
"for the discovery of a supermassive compact object at the centre of our galaxy" | |
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|
Andrea M. Ghez
(b. 1965) |
 American
| ||
Chemistry
[edit]| Awardee(s) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Emmanuelle Charpentier
(b. 1968) |
 French
|
"for the development of a method for genome editing" | [4] |
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|
Jennifer Doudna
(b. 1964) |
American
| ||
Physiology or Medicine
[edit]| Awardee(s) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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|
Harvey J. Alter
(b. 1935) |
United States
|
"for the discovery of Hepatitis C virus" | [5] |
|
Michael Houghton
(b. 1949) |
United Kingdom
| ||
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|
Charles M. Rice
(b. 1952) |
United States
| ||
Literature
[edit]| Awardee(s) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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|
Louise Glück
(1943–2023) |
United States
|
"for her unmistakable poetic voice that with austere beauty makes individual existence universal" | [6] |
Peace
[edit]| Awardee(s) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
World Food Programme
(founded 1961) |
United Nations | "for its efforts to combat hunger, for its contribution to bettering conditions for peace in conflict-affected areas and for acting as a driving force in efforts to prevent the use of hunger as a weapon of war and conflict." | [7] |
Economic Sciences
[edit]| Awardee(s) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Paul Milgrom
(b. 1948) |
United States
|
"for improvements to auction theory and inventions of new auction formats"[8] | [8] |
| Robert B. Wilson
(b. 1937) | ||||
Controversies
[edit]Chemistry
[edit]The Chemistry Prize's awarding to Charpentier and Doudna provoked debates about who "discovered" CRISPR, with some arguing that scientists like Feng Zhang or Virginijus Šikšnys should have been properly credited.[9]
Changes
[edit]Each prize's awarding amount increased from 9 million Swedish krona to 10 million.[2]
References
[edit]- ^ "All Nobel Prizes 2020". NobelPrize.org. Retrieved 2024-12-09.
- ^ a b "2020 Nobel Prize Winners: Full List". The New York Times.
- ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physics 2020". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 4 May 2024. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
- ^ "The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2020". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 7 October 2020. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
- ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2020". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 5 October 2020. Retrieved 2020-10-05.
- ^ "The Nobel Prize in Literature 2020". NobelPrize.org. Archived from the original on 8 October 2020. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
- ^ "The Nobel Peace Prize 2020". NobelPrize.org. Archived from the original on 9 October 2020. Retrieved 2020-10-09.
- ^ a b "The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2020". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 2020-10-12. Retrieved 2020-10-14.
- ^ Chamary, J. V. "These Scientists Deserved A Nobel Prize, But Didn't Discover Crispr". Forbes. Retrieved 2024-12-09.