The Nobel Foundation 2012 Annual Review - Nobelprize.org

The Nobel Foundation
2012 Annual Review
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The Nobel Foundation
2012 Annual review
ediTors: Annika Pontikis, Public relations Manager and siavash Pournouri, Public relations officer
desigN/ProducTioN: Martin Zetterquist, Formalix AB
PriNTiNg: göteborgstryckeriet AB
PAPer: galerie Art Matt
All images in the Annual review are © The Nobel Foundation or © Nobel Media unless otherwise stated.
FroNT cover:
Alexander Mahmoud
exhibitions, programmes and events can be subject to change during 2013.
For enquiries, please contact: info@nobel.se
© The Nobel Foundation 2013
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and the Nobel Prize ® Medal design mark are registered trademarks of the Nobel Foundation
The Nobel Foundation, P.o. Box 5232, se-102 45 stockholm, sweden

Lars Heikensten, the Nobel
Foundation’s Executive Director
since June, 2011
pHoto: orasis
A word from the
executive director
The Nobel Week in stockholm is distinguished
by the series of festive celebrations
that culminates in the Nobel Prize
Award ceremony and the Nobel Banquet on
december 10. it is also a week that includes
such events as the Nobel Lectures, which focus
on the Nobel Laureates’ many years of persistent,
strenuous work. if we ask the Laureates
themselves, they often say that it is their meetings
with school children, students and young
researchers that are the most memorable and
inspiring events of their stay in stockholm. We
want to encourage these kinds of encounters,
and the Nobel Foundation has long discussed
how the Nobel Week programme might be
broadened both in order to reach a wider audience,
and to generate greater interest in current
fields of science and social issues. so in 2012
we launched a new full-day meeting, Nobel
Week dialogue, for the purpose of promoting
a broader conversation between scientists
and society at large. of the more than 1,000
people who attended the 2012 event, on the
theme of genetics, nearly half were students.
The response to the event was overwhelmingly
positive.
The Nobel Week dialogue is a good
example of the kind of activity carried out
by the various companies that have emerged
around the Nobel Foundation during the past
10–15 years. The event clearly demonstrates
the potential that exists for creating highquality
activities in the spirit of the Nobel Prize.
The prize that Alfred Nobel established was
intended to reward those who had “conferred
the greatest benefit on mankind”. By using
various means to spread knowledge of the
advances for which the prize is awarded, and
by encouraging creativity and fresh thinking,
we can help ensure that Nobel’s vision will live
on and that the impact of his contributions will
be even greater.
Last year a number of exhibitions and
programmes were presented at our museums in
stockholm and oslo. The task of modernising
the official Nobelprize.org website is under way,
and during 2014 we plan to carry out events
similar to the Nobel Week dialogue in Asia.
The task of creating a new Nobel center in
stockholm is also continuing at a healthy pace.
Among the highlights of 2012, of course,
was Peace Prize Laureate Aung san suu Kyi’s
visit to oslo where, after many years of house
arrest, she was finally able to hold her Nobel
Lecture – a historic event that attracted great
attention worldwide.
during 2012, the finances of the Nobel
Foundation were in focus. The prize amount
was lowered by 20 per cent, while steps were
taken and are continously being taken to
reduce the Foundation’s other expenses.
concurrently, efforts are under way to
establish a new model for partnerships between
the business community and the externally
financed entities of the Nobel sphere. A number
of companies, both swedish and foreign, have
expressed their interest.
in this context, i would also like to thank
all the Laureates who have responded positively
by joining the Nobel Laureate Network, which
was established at the initiative of the Board
of directors of the Nobel Foundation during
2012. The purpose of this network is to lay the
groundwork for an expanded dialogue between
the Nobel Laureates and the Nobel sphere,
and thereby contribute to additional inspiring
activities in the spirit of the Nobel Prize.
Finally, i would like to mention that on May
1, 2013 the Nobel Foundation elected Professor
carl-Henrik Heldin as its new chairman of the
Board, since Marcus storch’s term of office has
expired and he has reached the age of 70. on
behalf of the entire Nobel sphere, i would like to
thank Marcus storch for his contributions during
17 years on the Board of the Nobel Foundation
while also welcoming carl-Henrik Heldin.
i hope that readers will enjoy the following
pages, in which we present the 2012 Nobel
Laureates and our efforts – with the Nobel
Prize as the starting point – to encourage
creativity and fresh thinking that is in line with
Alfred Nobel’s vision of conferring the greatest
benefit on mankind.
LArs HeiKeNsTeN
execuTive direcTor
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James Watson at the
Nobel Week Dialogue
Aung San Suu Kyi in the Oslo Town Hall
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John B. Gurdon inspects his medal Nobel Prize Award Ceremony
Thorbjørn Jagland, Chair of the Nobel Committee with representatives of the Peace Prize
Laureate EU: Herman Van Rompuy, President of the European Council, José Manuel Durão
Barroso, President of the European Commission and Martin Schulz, President of the
European Parliament
A word from the executive director
The 2012 Nobel Laureates
science and society in dialogue
Aung san suu Kyi celebrated in oslo
The story of Nobelprize.org
A brief history of the finances
Alfred Nobel
The Nobel Prize
The organisational structure of the Nobel Prize

Robert J. Lefkowitz with family and friends
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institutions selecting the Nobel Laureates
The Nobel Foundation
Nobel group interests AB
Nobel Media AB
Nobelmuseet AB
Nobel Peace center Foundation
Nobel Peace Prize – research and information
Nobelhuset AB
With this Annual Review we aim
to provide a comprehensive picture of the
Nobel Sphere as a whole. For additional
information, please see the respective annual
reports of the Nobel Foundation and related
organisations.
Emma Johansson, toastmaster at the Nobel Banquet
artist: Lena Cronström.
Calligrapher: annika rücker. Book binder: ingemar Dackéus.
JamEs WatsoN, JoHN B. GurDoN, pHoto: NikLas ELmEHED.
auNG saN suu kyi, Eu rEprEsENtativEs, pHoto: kEN oppraNN.
NoBEL prizE aWarD CErEmoNy, pHoto: aLExaNDEr LJuNGDaHL.
roBErt J. LEFkoWitz, pHoto: aLEx maHmouD. toastmastEr, pHoto: orasis.
DaviD WiNELaND’s DipLoma, pHoto: Lovisa ENGBLom.
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Lloyd S. Shapley at the Nobel Prize Award Ceremony in the Stockholm Concert Hall
Brian K. Kobilka signing a chair at the Nobel Museum
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Nobel Medals and Diplomas at
the Nobel Foundation, 11 December

The 2012 Nobel Laureates
tHE NoBEL prizE iN pHysiCs
Was aWarDED to
serge Haroche and
david J. Wineland
“for ground-breaking experimental methods that
enable measuring and manipulation of individual
quantum systems”
Professor serge HarocHe, born 1944, collège de
France and ecole Normale supérieure, France.
Dr DaviD J. WinelanD, born 1944, National institute of
standards and Technology (NisT), and university of
colorado Boulder, usA.
WHen it comes to the smallest components of our
universe, our usual understanding of how the world
works ceases to apply. We have entered the often
paradoxical and difficult-to-comprehend realm of
quantum physics. in this world, the same object can
exist in different states simultaneously. For a long
time, many quantum phenomena could only be
examined theoretically. david Wineland and serge
Haroche are responsible for the development of
ingenious experiments designed to study quantum
phenomena when matter and light interact. using
electric fields, Wineland has successfully captured electrically
charged atoms, or ions, in a kind of trap and
studied them with the help of small packets of light,
or photons. Haroche has been able to capture photons
using another kind of trap – two mirrors which they
can bounce between. This device allowed Haroche to
study the photons by passing atoms through the trap.
Wineland has been able to create incredibly precise
clocks based on his discoveries. These discoveries
may also make it possible to build computers that are
much faster than those we use today.
tHE NoBEL prizE iN
CHEmistry
Was aWarDED to
robert J. Lefkowitz and
Brian K. Kobilka
“for studies of G-protein-coupled receptors”
Professor robert J. lefkoWitz, born 1943, Howard
Hughes Medical institute and duke university
Medical center, usA.
Professor brian k. kobilka, born 1955, stanford
university school of Medicine, usA.
WHen you are afraiD, your heart beats faster, your
blood pressure rises, and you breathe more heavily.
This is partly the result of adrenaline forming in
your body, which causes your heart rate to accelerate.
Adrenaline is a hormone, a substance that manages
communication between the cells in your body. each
cell has a small receiver known as a receptor, which is
able to receive hormones. What these receptors look
like and how they work remained a mystery for many
years. in order to track these receptors, in 1968 robert
Lefkowitz attached a radioactive isotope of the element
iodine to different hormones. By tracking the radiation
emitted by the isotope, he succeeded in finding a
receptor for adrenaline, which allowed him to build an
understanding of how it functions. in the 1980s, Brian
Kobilka successfully identified the gene that regulates
the formation of this receptor. The two researchers also
discovered that the receptor was similar to receptors
located in the eye that capture light. it was later discovered
that there is an entire family of receptors that look
and act in similar ways – known as g-protein-coupled
receptors. Approximately half of all medications used
today make use of this kind of receptor.
tHE NoBEL portraits, pHoto: uLLa moNtaN.
NoBEL prizE aWarD CErEmoNy, pHoto: aLEx maHmouD. CHair-siGNiNG at tHE NoBEL musEum, Group portrait, pHoto: orasis. NoBEL mEDaLs & DipLomas, pHoto: NikLas ELmEHED.
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tHE NoBEL prizE iN
pHysioLoGy or mEDiCiNE
Was aWarDED to
John B. gurdon och
shinya Yamanaka
“for the discovery that mature cells can be
reprogrammed to become pluripotent”
Dr JoHn b. gurDon, born 1933, gurdon institute,
cambridge, uK.
Professor sHinya yamanaka, born 1962, Kyoto
university, Japan and gladstone institutes, usA.
our lives begin when a fertilized egg divides and
forms new cells that, in turn, also divide. These cells
are identical in the beginning, but become increasingly
varied over time. As a result of this process, our cells
become specialized for their location in the body –
perhaps in a nerve, a muscle, or a kidney. it was long
thought that a mature or specialized cell could not
return to an immature state, but this has been proven
incorrect. in 1962, John gurdon removed the nucleus
of a fertilized egg cell from a frog and replaced it with
the nucleus of a mature cell taken from a tadpole’s
intestine. This modified egg cell grew into a new
frog, proving that the mature cell still contained the
genetic information needed to form all types of cells.
in 2006, shinya Yamanaka succeeded in identifying a
small number of genes within the genome of mice that
proved decisive in this process. When activated, skin
cells from mice could be reprogrammed to immature
stem cells, which, in turn, can grow into all types of
cells within the body. in the long-term, these discoveries
may lead to new medical treatments.
tHE NoBEL prizE iN
LitEraturE
Was aWarDED to
Mo Yan
“who with hallucinatory realism merges folk tales,
history and the contemporary”
autHor mo yan, born 1955, china
mo yan’s Writings cover a wide span, from short
stories, to novels, to essays. His path to a literary
career was not clear-cut. Mo Yan was born to a poor
farming family in shandong Province, china. After
only a few years of schooling, he began work as a cattle
herder at the age of 11. As a young man, Mo Yan
enlisted in the army, where his literary talent was first
discovered. He published his first short story in 1981,
which, like his earlier works, was written according
to the prevailing literary dictates of the ruling regime.
over time, however, Mo Yan’s storytelling began
to seek out its own, more independent paths. His
international breakthrough came with the epic novel
Red Sorghum. other famous works by the Nobel
Prize-awarded author include The Garlic Ballads and
Life and Death are Wearing Me Out. His narrative
style bears the hallmarks of magical realism. Mo Yan’s
writing often uses older chinese literature and popular
oral traditions as a starting point, combining these
with contemporary social issues.
artist: John stenborg.
John B. Gurdon and family
kalligraf: annika rücker.
Book binder: ingemar Dackéus.
tHE NoBEL portraits, pHoto: uLLa moNtaN.
LaurEatEs WitH FriENDs aND FamiLy, pHoto: aLEx maHmouD. mo yaN’s DipLoma, pHoto: Lovisa ENGBLom. Eu FLaG: istoCkpHoto. pEaCE prizE DipLoma, pHoto: tHomas WiDErBErG.

tHE NoBEL pEaCE prizE
Was aWarDED to
european union (eu)
“The union and its forerunners have for over six
decades contributed to the advancement of peace
and reconciliation, democracy and human rights in
Europe”
after tHe Decimation of the second World War,
reconciliation between germany and France was an
important step towards fostering peace in europe. The
two countries – which by then had fought three wars
within the space of 70 years – built the european coal
and steel community together with four other countries
in 1952. This organization became the foundation
for an ever-broader cooperation within what has been
known since 1993 as the european union (eu). in this
time of economic and social unrest, the Norwegian
Nobel committee wished to reward the eu’s successful
struggle for peace, reconciliation and for democracy
and human rights. When the community expanded
to include additional countries during the 1970s and
1980s, democracy was a prerequisite for membership.
After the fall of european communist regimes
around 1990, the union was able to expand to include
several countries in central and eastern europe,
where democracy had been strengthened and conflict
checked. The Nobel committee also believes that the
question of eu membership is bolstering the reconciliation
process after the wars in the Balkan states, and
that the desire for eu membership has also promoted
democracy and human rights in Turkey.
artist: Gerd tinglum. Calligrapher: inger magnus. Book binder: Julius Johansen.
tHE svEriGEs riksBaNk
prizE iN ECoNomiC
sCiENCEs iN mEmory oF
aLFrED NoBEL
Was aWarDED to
Alvin e. roth and
Lloyd s. shapley
”for the theory of stable allocations and the practice
of market design”
Professor alvin e. rotH, born 1951, Harvard
university and Harvard Business school, usA.
Professor emeritus lloyD s. sHaPley, born 1923,
university of california, usA.
HoW to bring different players together in the best
possible way is a key economic problem. examples of
situations where this problem arises include matching
children with different schools, and kidneys or
other organs with patients who require transplants.
From the 1960s onward, Lloyd shapley used what
is known as cooperative game Theory to study
different matching methods. Within the framework
of this theory, it is especially important that a stable
match is found. A stable match entails that there are
no two agents who would prefer one another over
their current counterparts. in collaboration with other
researchers, shapley has succeeded in identifying
methods that achieve this stability. Beginning in the
1980s, Alvin roth used shapley’s theoretical results
to explain how markets function in practice. Through
empirical studies and lab experiments, roth and his
colleagues demonstrated that stability was critical to
successful matching methods. roth has also developed
systems for matching doctors with hospitals, school
pupils with schools, and organ donors with patients.
Alvin E. Roth with family and friends
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More than a 1,000 people attended the Nobel Week
Dialogue at the Stockholm City Congress Center
Helga Nowotny, President of the
European Research Council (ERC)
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Steven Chu, 1997 Nobel
Laureate in Physics, US Secretary
of Energy 2009–2013
In the future, the forum
provided by the Nobel Week
Dialogue will travel beyond
the boundaries of Sweden to
international settings.

aLL pHotos: aLEx LJuNGDaHL
science and society in
dialogue
on december 9th, 2012, a brand new
element joined the roster of events
forming the Nobel Week in stockholm;
Nobel Week dialogue. This one day
meeting, held the day before the Nobel Prize
Award ceremony and organised by Nobel
Media, brought together a rich mix of leading
scientists, policy-makers and thinkers to discuss
the topic of The Genetic Revolution and its
Impact on Society.
Free to attend and streamed live online for
a global audience, the objective of the meeting
was to deepen the dialogue between the
scientific community and the rest of society.
Alongside the wealth of online content created
by Nobel Media that seeks to disseminate
knowledge about scientific research to society,
this event sought to give the wider public the
chance to meet with scientists and engage in
discussion on topics that concern us all.
The choice of topic for this inaugural
dialogue was partly inspired by the fact that
2012 marked the 50th anniversary of the 1962
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine awarded
to Francis crick, James Watson and Maurice
Wilkins for their discovery of the molecular
structure of dNA. The participants however
(including James Watson himself), were keen
on looking forward rather than back. After
morning plenary sessions devoted to reviewing
the past half century’s progress in genetics and
genomics from a scientific as well as societal
perspective, the programme split into parallel
panel discussions. during lunchtime breakout
sessions and an afternoon of more formally
organised panels, audience members were free
to choose whichever stream interested them
most. Audiences, both those present and following
online, were invited to engage in the conversations
through comments and questions.
over thirty participants from around the
world had come to stockholm to attend the
event. The full list of participants, along with
the programme and videos capturing the day’s
proceedings can be viewed online at www.
nobelweekdialogue.org. Among those taking
part were seven Nobel Laureates, a range of
scientists, as well as representatives from industry
and policy-making institutions. in various
constellations, they discussed a variety of topics
centred around questions such as Human
evolution: where have we been and where are
we going? and The promised land of genomic
medicine: how do we actually get there?
Just under half of the registered audience
were students, the other half consisting of interested
members of the public along with experts,
researchers, invited guests and media. in total,
more than a thousand people filled the stockholm
city congress center to watch and participate
in the discussions, not bad for a 9am
start on a sunday in december with an outside
temperature of a chilly –10°c. Happily for the
organisers, 97 per cent of those surveyed said
they would participate again.
This first Nobel Week dialogue, which like
most of Nobel Media’s activities is financed by
external support, was generously made possible
by three partners: the region of västra götaland,
the city of gothenburg and carl Bennet AB.
Now established as an annual part of Nobel
Week, the next Nobel Week dialogue will take
place on december 9th, 2013, in gothenburg.
The subject for that and future meetings will
be decided in consultation with the Programme
committee for the Nobel Week dialogue,
consisting of the secretaries of all six Nobel
committees and representatives of Nobel Media
and the Nobel Foundation. in the near future,
the meetings will alternate annually between
gothenburg and stockholm, in harmony with
the desire to spread the opportunities afforded
by Nobel Week across regional boundaries. Not
that there’s anything new in involving gothenburg
in the Nobel Week: Albert einstein gave his
Nobel Lecture there in 1923.
in the future, the forum provided by the
Nobel Week dialogue will travel beyond the
boundaries of sweden to international settings.
The need for conversations between those at
the forefront of scientific progress and the
rest of society has never been greater, and the
questions being discussed demand international
engagement. Nobel Media already works
with its partners to run several international
educational events each year, and one goal for
the future is to extend those activities in order
to promote discussions that further connect
science with society.
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Aung San Suu Kyi participated in the opening of the
Mother Democracy exhibition at the Nobel Peace Center
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For me receiving the Nobel Peace
Prize means personally extending my
concerns for democracy and human rights
beyond national borders. The Nobel Peace
Prize opened up a door in my heart.
AuNg sAN suu KYi

aLL pHotos: sara JoHaNNEsEN /
NoBELs FrEDssENtEr
Aung san suu Kyi
celebrated in oslo
When Aung san suu Kyi was
announced as the Nobel Peace Prize
Laureate in october 1991, the Norwegian
Nobel committee pointed out that “suu
Kyi’s struggle is one of the most extra ordinary
examples of civil courage in Asia in recent
decades… in awarding the Nobel Peace Prize
for 1991 to Aung san suu Kyi, the Norwegian
Nobel committee wishes to honour this woman
for her unflagging efforts and to show its support
for the many people throughout the world who
are striving to attain democracy, human rights
and ethnic conciliation by peaceful means.”
Aung san suu Kyi was not present at the
award ceremony on december 10. she had
been placed under house arrest on 20 July
1989. in the 1990 elections in Burma (she
always insisted on Burma, not Myanmar) her
party, the National League for democracy, had
won 59 per cent of the votes resulting in 80
per cent of the parliamentary seats. offered her
freedom if she left the country, she refused. so,
at the award ceremony she was represented by
her husband Michael Aris and their two sons
Alexander and Kim.
Alexander spoke movingly on behalf of his
mother, expressing the hope that the “elements
for moderation and reconciliation among those
now in authority may make their sentiments
felt in Burma’s hour of deepest need.”
For a long time, Alexander’s hopes seemed
misplaced. Aung san suu Kyi remained under
house arrest for 15 of the next 21 years. even
in her brief periods of relative freedom she
was seriously threatened. it was becoming ever
clearer that her struggle was indeed “one of the
most extraordinary examples of civil courage
in Asia in recent decades.” she was becoming
Asia’s Mandela.
The Norwegian Nobel committee wondered
when she would be able to come to oslo
and give her Nobel Lecture. By going abroad
she would also meet her family again. When
her husband Michael died in 1999 it had been
more than three years since they had last met.
Yet, the Nobel committee applied absolutely
no pressure on her to come to oslo. she stated
more than once that, when the time was right,
Norway was the first country she would visit.
The time never seemed right.
in November 2010 suu Kyi was finally
released from house arrest. in 2011 she held
talks with the government. Many political
prisoners were released; trade unions were
legalized. The country was in serious economic
difficulties, it had become dependent on china
and isolated from the West. No reform was
credible without the release of Aung san suu
Kyi. The isolated lady had to give her stamp of
approval before contacts with the West could
be resumed.
on June 15, 2012 she finally arrived in oslo
to give her Nobel Lecture the following day. it
was a special moment for her. it was certainly
a very special moment for the members of the
Norwegian Nobel committee and for the Norwegian
people. she insisted that she had chosen
her course entirely on her own, but “When the
Nobel committee chose to honour me, the road
i had chosen of my own free will became a less
lonely path to follow. For this i thank the committee,
the people of Norway and peoples all
over the world whose support has strengthened
my faith in the common quest for peace.”
The struggle in Burma is far from over. The
path towards human rights and democracy is
still not irreversible. But Aung san suu Kyi has
definitely made the world a better place.
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The story of
Nobelprize.org
Hans Mehlin was an early user of the World
Wide Web. in the beginning of the 1990s, he
produced online resources as part of a bioinformatics
initiative for researchers at Karolinska
institutet (Ki). The internet, essentially a system
of interconnected computer networks, had
been used at universities and colleges for some
time but was yet to be of major interest to the
general public. To help broaden the appeal of
the web, Mehlin built websites in his spare time
on a variety of topics from literature to art and
music. As a post-doctoral researcher he soon
considered creating a science-related site, and
asked himself, “what could be more interesting
than the Nobel Prize”?
At Ki, Mehlin’s workplace neighboured
that of the Nobel Assembly and Professor Nils
ringertz, secretary of the Nobel committee for
Physiology or Medicine. during a coffee break,
Mehlin posed the question whether the committee
would consider publishing the upcoming
Nobel Prize announcement online. it was
1994, the website was given the green light and
recorded 12,000 hits that year.
ringertz, who also sat on the Nobel Foundation’s
Board of directors, quickly realised
the site’s potential. By the following year, he
convinced the other prize-awarding institutions
to join in the effort. Press releases announcing
the Nobel Prize in Physics, chemistry, Literature
and Peace as well as the economic sciences
Prize were all published online. The timing in
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1997
1998
it began as a side project at a research institute – two molecular
biologists took on the task of publishing information about the
Nobel Prize on the internet. Agneta Wallin Levinovitz and Hans
Mehlin tell the story of the first online prize announcement that
lay the groundwork for the official website of the Nobel Prize.
fact coincided with the centennial of Alfred
Nobel’s writing of his testament.
The team was soon joined by dr Agneta
Wallin Levinovitz, who currently serves as
editor-in-chief and coo at Nobel Media AB.
Together with ringertz’s secretary, gudrun
Franzén, they began publishing the biographies
of Nobel Laureates along with illustrated presentations
of the work for which Laureates had
been awarded the prize. The project was initially
funded with grants from the Knowledge
Foundation and later from riksbankens Jubileumsfond.
Most of the site content was sourced
from Les Prix Nobel, the Nobel Foundation’s
yearbook since 1901, featuring each year’s
prize motivations, award ceremony speeches
along with the Laureates’ Nobel Lectures and
biographies.
“We published ten years’ worth of material
at a time,” explains Wallin Levinovitz. “We
started with the most recent years and worked
backwards.”
The website was being constructed at the
same time as the Nobel Foundation’s board
discussed the possibility of establishing a Nobel
Museum. ringertz advocated the site as a valuable
complement to a physical museum – “a place
accessible to all, at all times”. in 1996, the project
was approved as the official website of the Nobel
Foundation, or the ‘Nobel e-Museum’.
in the late 1990s, the prize announcements,
Nobel Lectures and award ceremonies were
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2006
all broadcast live on the site for the first time.
Mehlin recalls how the images transmitted were
no bigger than a postage stamp; the technical
solutions were far from ideal and internet
connections were rather slow at the time. still,
as the number of personal computers increased
worldwide, the number of visitors to the website
exceeded 2.5 million in 2000.
The team soon broadened their scope to
reach out to, and inspire a younger audience
through the Nobel Prize. in May 2001, an
educational programme financed by the Knut
and Alice Wallenberg Foundation was launched.
The staff expanded to include educators, writers,
illustrators and experts in interactive technology.
Multidisciplinary teams collaborated to create
teaching tools along with interactive games
based on the awarded work of Nobel Laureates.
At the height of the initiative, up to 10–12
educational games were produced each year.
“it’s somewhat unique,” explains Mehlin,
“we created all of the content on the site inhouse,
with the exception of one single game.”
since 2004, the website is called Nobelprize.org
and is no longer considered the
official site of the Nobel Foundation but that
of the Nobel Prize itself. Working with an
organisation and a brand that has existed
since 1901 – and hopefully far into the future
– involves both technical and content-related
challenges. As Head of digital Media and
director of Technology, Mehlin has avoided
fixed solutions that could paint the website into
a corner, favouring the flexibility offered by
open standards and platforms instead. He has
often been quick to adopt new technology that
he considers viable in the long-term.
“one of the reasons for our early success in
handling peaks in visitor traffic was our ability
to quickly scale down the site on our own, during
prize announcements for example.”
during 2013, the site’s layout will be
revamped to improve navigation using pages
that are more search and filter-driven as well as
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device responsive in their design.
even so, Wallin Levinovitz feels it is difficult
to predict what the Nobelprize.org site will
look like in five to ten years.
“Personally, i believe in a greater spread of
the content. There is less focus on publishing
exclusively on your own site these days, but
rather on allowing content to exist where the
user is. That’s why we’re working on YouTube
with our videos, on the animated educational
site BrainPoP for our games, and through our
social media channels in general.”
Wallin Levinovitz would like to see more
animated explanations of the awarded research.
greater collaboration with the prize-awarding
institutions might for instance lead to more
interactive prize announcements and further
help visualise the press releases.
When asked about how the website has been
affected by the social media boom, she acknowledges
the importance of these new platforms.
“social media increase dialogue while at
the same time presenting a challenge given that
you don’t know what direction that dialogue
will take. At present the tone of the site is not
sufficiently open. To succeed in broadening
the message about the Nobel Prize, we have
to be willing to take chances and devote more
resources to the task.”
each year, the editorial team at Nobelprize.org
receive around 12,000 comments
on the website and more than 50,000 e-mails.
Approximately half of all visitors to Nobelprize.
org come from the usA and one-quarter from
europe. in recent years, there has been a major
increase in the number of visitors from Asia.
Two decades have passed since the first
Nobel Prize announcement was published
online. The internet, which was seen back then
as a passing fad for the devoted few, is now an
indispensable part of our everyday lives; and
the Nobel Prize has an important role to play
as a source of inspiration and commitment in
the service of mankind.
13

A brief history
of the finances
The capital bequeathed by Alfred Nobel shall be managed in
such a way that the Nobel Prize can be awarded in perpetuity.
For more than a century, this has been one of the Nobel
Foundation’s most important tasks.
in his will, Alfred Nobel wrote that “the capital,
invested in safe securities by my executors,
shall constitute a fund, the interest on which
shall be annually distributed in the form of
prizes to those who, during the preceding year,
shall have conferred the greatest benefit to
mankind.” The wealthy industrialist and inventor
left no more guidance than this regarding
the management of the capital he left behind.
since it was established in 1900, the Nobel
Foundation has been responsible for managing
the capital bequeathed by Nobel. on the
whole, this has worked well; today the Foundation’s
invested capital totals seK 3.1 billion.
The portfolio has retained its value, adjusted
for inflation, and the same is true of the prize
sum. But it has not shown stable performance.
on the contrary, for a long period the portfolio’s
performance was quite weak, and during
the post-war period good periods have
alternated with periods of both stagnation and
declining assets (see chart 1).
During tHe PerioD until the early 1950s, the
Foundation’s invested capital lost around 60
per cent of its value. This downward trend was
largely due to the Nobel Foundation’s regulations,
based on Nobel’s formulation about
“safe securities”. The Foundation invested only
in fixed-interest bonds and loans, which was
obviously a poor strategy in times of inflation.
Another part of the picture was that until 1946
the Nobel Foundation paid taxes; in some
years, the Foundation was one of the largest
taxpayers in stockholm.
in 1953 the swedish government approved
amendments to the statutes of the Nobel
Foundation that opened up the opportunity to
invest in additional asset classes. This included
large-scale investments in the stock market,
in residential properties around sweden and
in agricultural properties in the area of Lake
Mälaren and province of småland. The Foundation
began investing in the stock market at a
favourable time, and the overall performance
14
of its fund capital during the 1950s and 60s
was somewhat more successful than previously,
with an annual real return of more than 1 per
cent. By the early 1970s, the portfolio consisted
of about 60 per cent equities and properties.
The 1970s were problematic for all wealth
management in sweden; weak growth went
hand in hand with high inflation. For the Nobel
Foundation’s fund capital, this meant a slightly
negative performance in real terms. But meanwhile
the Foundation implemented a number of
changes that had a positive impact on its fund
capital during the 1980s, when it nearly tripled
in real terms. This success during the 1980s was
largely due to strong stock market growth, but
also to a highly successful property transaction.
in 1987 the large office property holdings that
the Nobel Foundation had purchased in stockholm
were combined into a single property
company called Beväringen, which the Foundation
sold with a good capital gain shortly before
the big property price slide of the early 1990s.
during the 1990s the Foundation adopted
more modern asset management, based on
newer financial theories and a clearer portfolio
philosophy. Assets were diversified more than
previously, not only among equities, fixedincome
investments and properties in sweden
but to a large extent also to other countries.
generally speaking, property holdings were
reduced. since 1999 the Nobel Foundation has
only owned the two properties where it conducts
its activities in stockholm and oslo. Meanwhile,
its stock market holdings were high, at times
exceeding 65 per cent of the portfolio.
The Foundation’s investments in 1990s
were generally very successful, especially
because of strong global growth in share prices.
on average, the portfolio grew by a nominal
8.6 per cent annually during the decade, and
by the turn of the millennium it was three times
larger in real terms than in 1901.
tHe Past DecaDe has been more problematic.
Between 2001 and 2011, nominal return aver-

CHart 1
SEK m
The Nobel Foundation’s assets in Swedish kronor.
Adjusted for inflation.
aged 1.4 per cent annually. since the Nobel
Foundation had as much as 65 per cent of its
fund capital invested in equities in early 2000,
perhaps this is not so surprising. during the first
decade of the 21st century, stock markets generally
performed very weakly. during each of the
dramatic stock market collapses of 2002 and
2007–2008, the Nobel Foundation lost as much
as one fourth of its capital. its profits were also
adversely affected when the value of its foreign
holdings fell as the swedish krona rose in value.
More favourable asset growth since the
1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2012
early 1950s, when investment regulations
were changed, made it possible to successively
increase the Nobel Prize. in kronor terms, the
prize sum changed from seK 150,782 in 1901
and seK 175,000 in 1953 to seK 400,000 in
1970, seK 6 million in 1991, seK 10 million
in 2001 and seK 8 million today (see chart 2).
This means that adjusted for inflation in sweden,
the level of the Nobel Prize today is about
as high as when the first prizes were awarded.
HoW tHe assets of tHe founDation change is
of course affected not only by its inflow, which
is essentially a matter of returns on the capital
bequeathed by Alfred Nobel, but also on how
much money it spends. The largest single cost
item is the Nobel Prizes, which averaged about
43 per cent of outflow during the past decade.
other major cost items are compensation to the
Nobel Prize-awarding institutions for their prize
adjudication work, which constituted 26 per cent
of outflow, and the expenses of the Nobel festivities
in stockholm and oslo, which accounted
for 12 per cent. The remaining 19 per cent was
divided between administration, the official
Nobel Prize website Nobelprize.org and various
smaller items including the Nobel symposia.
expenses other than the prizes have been
10
8
6
4
2
CHart 2
SEK m
mdkr mdkr mdkr mdkr
5 000 5 000
12 12
4 000 4 000
3 000 3 000
2 000 2 000
1 000 1 000
0 0
0 0
0 0
1900 1900 1920 1920 1940 1940 1960 1960 1980 1980 2000 2012 2000 2012
1900 1900 1920 1920 1940 1940 1960 1960 1980 1980 2000 2012 2000 2012 1900 1900 1920
12
10
8
6
4
2
12
10
8
6
4
2
0 0
1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2012
The Nobel Prize amount in Swedish kronor. Nominal value.
12 12
10
8
6
4
10
8
6
4
2
comparatively 10 stable over the years, but since
the early 1990s there has been a slight upturn.
This did not represent a major problem during
8
the 1990s, given the returns that the Foundation
was receiving at that time. But it has been
6
a growing problem over the past decade, with
total outflow on average exceeding the Foundation’s
4 total returns.
2 During 2 2012 various stePs were taken to
2 2
address this imbalance. The Foundation has
managed its assets mainly according to the
0 0
0 0
1900 1900 1920 1920 1940 1940 1960 1960 1980 1980 2000 2012 2000 2012 1900 1900 1920
same principles as before. But the day-to-day
decisions are now made by an investment
committee, which includes external expertise.
The Nobel Foundation has meanwhile taken a
number of steps to cut expenses. during 2012
it lowered the prize sum by 20 per cent and the
compensation to the prize-awarding institutions
by 10 per cent. it also implemented cost-cutting
measures in connection with the Nobel festivities.
cost-cutting efforts are now continuing,
while some of the Foundation’s previous activities
will be taken over in the future by the various
companies related to the Nobel Foundation.
More than a century has passed since the
Nobel Prize was awarded for the first time.
Adjusted for inflation, both the Foundation’s
capital and the prize sum are at the same high
level today as they were then. But perhaps the
Nobel Foundation should set its ambition even
higher. The growth of the prize sum has not
quite kept pace with the trend of real income.
in 1901 the prize was equivalent to about 20
times the annual salary of a professor, but it is
not as much today. This may be of secondary
importance to a scientific researcher, author or
peace worker who receives a Nobel Prize, but it
is nevertheless a challenge for the organisation
that manages Alfred Nobel’s capital.
15
12
10
8
6
4
2
12
10
8
6
4
12
10
8
6
4
2
12
10
8
6
4

16
Alfred i San Remo.
Home is
where I work and I
work everywhere.
ALFred NoBeL

Bust oF aLFrED NoBEL,
pHoto: HaNs mEHLiN.
Alfred Nobel
Alfred Nobel was both an inventor and entrepreneur as well as
a very successful businessman, continually travelling between his
factories. To many people’s surprise, he left a large part of his
fortune for a prize that would reward significant efforts within
the different fields that interested him most during his life.
Alfred Nobel was born in stockholm in 1833.
His father immanuel was an inventor and
engineer and his mother Andriette came from
a wealthy family. When his father’s company
went bankrupt, his father moved to russia
and found success within the war industry. in
1842 the rest of the family followed and Alfred
and his brothers received a first-class education
from private tutors. At 17 years of age,
Alfred spoke five languages: swedish, russian,
english, French and german.
At the time, he was interested in poetry
and wrote his own prose. His father disliked
Alfred’s interest in literature and sent him
abroad to study with more of a focus on the
natural sciences. He visited a number of countries
and finally ended up in Paris where he
studied chemistry under Professor T. J. Pelouze.
Here, Alfred came into contact with nitroglycerin,
which had been invented by the italian
Ascanio sobrero. This was a highly explosive
liquid that was considered far too dangerous to
be useful. Alfred Nobel returned to sweden and
soon began experimenting with nitroglycerin.
These experiments were dangerous and led to
several fatal accidents. in one of these, Alfred’s
younger brother emil was killed. Alfred Nobel
was finally able to solve the problem with the
highly explosive nitroglycerin by mixing it
with a type of sand; kiselguhr. The result was
a formable mass, which was easier to handle
and package and which could be shipped and
handled safely. This was patented in 1867
under the name ’dynamite’. With the patenting
of different forms of dynamite together with
the detonator or blasting cap, which he had
previously invented, Alfred Nobel achieved his
major technical and industrial breakthroughs.
Alfred Nobel led a fast-paced exploitation
of his inventions and built factories and
laboratories around the world – vinterviken in
sweden, Krümmel in germany and Ardeer in
scotland were some of the first. He eventually
built just over 90 factories in 20 countries. His
brothers robert and Ludvig stayed in russia,
where they continued developing their father’s
manufacturing industries and successfully
developed oil fields in Baku in Azerbaijan.
Alfred’s life primarily consisted of work
and travel and he never formed a family.
Health problems, religious doubts and loneliness
marked his private life. He had homes in
Paris, san remo, scotland and other places
and Alfred’s last swedish home was Björkborn
Manor in Karlskoga. At his death, he had 355
patents and left behind an enormous fortune.
Alfred Nobel was a man of his time, embodying
many of the enlightenment’s main ideas,
both in his practical work and in his philosophy.
He wove his religious doubt with a belief in the
natural sciences, he was a true optimist about
technology and an entrepreneur who actively
took part in the industrialisation process.
Alfred Nobel died on 10 december 1896
in his home in san remo, italy, and his will
attracted significant attention when it was published.
He had given most of his fortune for the
use of awarding major efforts within physics,
chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature
and peace. The will was challenged by relatives,
by authorities in several countries and by swedish
King oscar ii.
A long journey began to realise Alfred
Nobel’s vision. After a few years of complicated
legal processes, led by the executors of the will
ragnar sohlman and rudolf Lilljequist, the
Nobel Foundation was formed in 1900 and the
next year the first Nobel Prizes were awarded.
Alfred Nobel is buried at Norra Begravningsplatsen,
just outside of stockholm.
17

David J. Wineland holding his Nobel Lecture
18
… to those
who, during the preceding
year, shall have conferred
the greatest benefit to
mankind … whether he be
a Scandinavian or not.
John B. Gurdon

aWarD CErEmoNy,
pHoto: aLEx LJuNGDaHL.
NoBEL prizE mEDaL®,
pHoto: Lovisa ENGBLom.
JoHN B. GurDoN’s BaNquEt
spEECH & DaviD J. WiNELaND’s
NoBEL LECturE, pHoto: orasis.
The Nobel Prize
When Alfred Nobel’s will was read, it caused something of a
sensation and was widely reported on in international media
and debated extensively. it stated that his fortune was to
be used as an endowment, the interest on which would be
awarded “… to those who, during the preceding year, shall
have conferred the greatest benefit to mankind … whether he
be a scandinavian or not”.
in accordance with Alfred Nobel’s wishes,
five Nobel Prizes were established: in physics,
chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature
and peace. These five categories are a unique
mix of disciplines. They make the Nobel Prize
an interdisciplinary prize and reflect both
Alfred Nobel as a person and the interests and
activities that engaged him during his lifetime.
His will clearly stated that no regard
should be given to the recipient’s nationality, a
condition that was widely debated in sweden,
which at the time was strongly marked
by nationalist sentiment. Nobel’s will also
specified the prize-awarding institutions: the
royal Academy of sciences would select the
Laureates in Physics and chemistry, Karolinska
institutet would be responsible for the prize
in Physiology or Medicine, the swedish
Academy would oversee the prize in Literature
and a committee selected by the Norwegian
Parliament (storting) in oslo would select
Peace Prize Laureates.
The sveriges riksbank Prize in economic
sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel was
established in 1968, on the occasion of the
riksbank’s (sweden’s central bank) 300th
anniversary. The first prize was awarded the
following year. The Nobel Foundation then
made a decision in principle not to establish
any additional prizes. The royal Academy of
sciences is responsible for selecting economic
sciences Laureates, though it is the riksbank
that funds the prize.
The reason why Alfred Nobel decided that
the Peace Prize should be awarded in Norway
and that the committee should be elected by
the Norwegian Parliament (storting) is not
specified in his will, nor is it mentioned in any
other document. Nobel may have taken into
consideration the fact that sweden was unified
with Norway at the time and that one of the
prize-awarding institutions should therefore
be based there. He may also have believed that
Norway was better positioned to nominate
Nobel Laureates. Norway did not have the
same military traditions and strong links to
the royal court as sweden and at the close of
the 19th century, the Norwegian Parliament
(storting) was also strongly committed to the
inter-parliamentary union and its work in
support of conflict resolution.
over the years, the Nobel Prize has
acquired a unique standing for a number of
reasons. one is that it is considered to be the
first ever international prize, in as much as
Nobel’s will directs that no regard be given
to nationality in the selection of Laureates.
Another is that the prize money awarded has
often been substantial. But most important is
the prize-awarding institutions’ independent
work of selecting Laureates – a task which is
performed with the highest level of expertise
and thoroughness.
At most, three Laureates may share any
one Nobel Prize and each receives their share
of the prize money, a diploma and a medal.
The Nobel Prize Medals for physics, chemistry,
physiology or medicine and literature were
created by engraver erik Lindberg. Norwegian
sculptor gustav vigeland fashioned the Peace
Prize Medal, while the economics Prize Medal
was designed by gunvor svensson-Lundqvist.
All Laureates are invited to stockholm or
oslo, to give a Nobel Lecture and to receive
the prize. since 1901, 863 Laureates have been
selected, 835 individuals and 21 organisations.
19

The OrganisaTiOnal
sTrucTure Of
The nObel Prize
tHe nobel Prize is surrounded by
several organisations and institutions
with different tasks related to the prize.
over the past decade, the organisational
structure has grown, particularly in
areas tasked with spreading information
about the Nobel Prize.
WHo finances tHe
nobel Prize?
The Nobel Prize is financed by the
nobel founDation, a private institution
established in 1900 based on the
will of Alfred Nobel.
The main task of the Nobel Foundation
is thus to manage the assets
made available through the will and
the significant intellectual property
rights related to the Nobel Prize that
have developed over the years. The
Foundation finances the prize-awarding
institutions’ work to select Nobel
Laureates and also provides the prize
sum. The Nobel Foundation does not
have the right or mandate to influence
the nomination and selection procedures
for Nobel Laureates.
orGaNisatioNaL struCturE
iN apriL 2013
the Nobel Foundation approves the composition of the boards of the Nobel Foundation rights association,
Nobel Group interests aB and the Nobel peace Center Foundation. Nobel Group interests aB owns the limited
liability companies and has an overall function as the umbrella organisation for these entities as well as the
Nobel peace Center Foundation.
20
NobEl
FouNdATioN
NobEl PEAcE
cENTER
FouNdATioN
NobEl -
muSEum Ab
WHo selects tHe nobel
laureates?
The process of independently and
expertly selecting Nobel Laureates,
in accordance with Alfred Nobel’s
intentions, is exclusively handled by
the Nobel Prize awarding institutions
named in his will:
tHe royal sWeDisH acaDemy of
sciences – the Nobel Prize in Physics
and chemistry as well as the sveriges
riksbank Prize in economic sciences
in Memory of Alfred Nobel
tHe nobel assembly at karolinska
institutet – the Nobel Prize in
Physiology or Medicine
tHe sWeDisH acaDemy – the Nobel
Prize in Literature
tHe norWegian nobel committee, a
committee of five persons appointed by
the Norwegian Parliament (storting) –
the Nobel Peace Prize
read more about the prize-awarding
institutions and how they select Nobel
Laureates on pages 22–23.
informational activities
The Nobel sphere also includes a number
of externally financed units with the
primary task of disseminating informa-
NobEl FouNdATioN RighTS ASSociATioN
NobEl gRouP iNTERESTS Ab
NobEl
mEdiA Ab
NobEl-
huSET Ab
NobEl
PEAcE PRizE
RESEARch &
iNFo. AS
tion about the Nobel Prize and inspiring
people around the world through the
stories of the Nobel Laureates. The
non-profit Nobel Foundation rights
Association has since 1999 served as an
umbrella organisation for these units.
during 2012, the association established
the wholly owned limited liability
company Nobelhuset AB for the
purpose of creating a Nobel center on
the Blasieholmen peninsula in central
stockholm. during the latter part of the
year, the wholly owned limited liability
company Nobel group interests AB
was also established for the purpose of
facilitating financial and administrative
coordination between the companies.
The Nobel Foundation rights Association’s
shareholding in the other limited
liability companies was then transferred
to Nobel group interests AB, which
thus took over the role as the umbrella
organisation for the following entities:
nobel meDia ab, stockholm
nobel museum ab, stockholm
nobelHuset ab, stockholm
nobels freDsPris – forskning og
informasJon as (Nobel Peace Prize –
research and information), oslo
stiftelsen nobels freDssenter (Nobel
Peace center Foundation), oslo
The units above are all externally
financed, e.g. via subsidies from state
or local governments, corporate sponsors,
educational organisations or
philanthropic entities.
The companies within the Nobel
sphere have no influence over or access
to the nomination or selection procedures
connected with the Nobel Prize.
only after the public announcement of
the Nobel Laureates can these companies
begin spreading information about
each year’s Laureates.
Nobel posters. photo: orasis. >

insTiTuTiOns selecTing
The nObel laureaTes
in His Will, Alfred Nobel stipulated
which institutions should select Nobel
Laureates in each prize category. He
probably chose the academic institutions
that he considered to be best
suited to the task. Alfred Nobel was
less specific regarding the organisation
that was to manage his assets. What
would eventually become the Nobel
Foundation was only mentioned in his
will as “a fund”.
The Nobel Prize’s unique international
standing depends largely on
the century-long, independent work
of the prize-awarding institutions in
selecting Nobel Laureates. The fact
that these organisations have engaged
knowledgeable individuals within their
own organisations, as well as extensive
international expertise has played a
vital role in achieving this standing.
tHe royal sWeDisH acaDemy of sciences
selects the Nobel Laureates in Physics
and chemistry. The royal swedish
22
Academy of sciences also selects the
recipient(s) of the sveriges riksbank
Prize in economic sciences in
Memory of Alfred Nobel, established
in 1968 on the occasion of the
riksbank’s (sweden’s central bank)
300th anniversary. The Academy
has approximately 440 swedish and
175 foreign members.
The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska
institutet selects the Nobel Laureates in
Physiology or Medicine. The Assembly
has 50 members.
The swedish Academy selects
Nobel Laureates in Literature. The
Academy has 18 members.
All of these institutions appoint
special Nobel committees of three
to five members, a secretary and (in
some cases) also deputies. Members
are elected for a term of three years
and may sit for a maximum of three
consecutive terms.
The Nobel committees evaluate
nominations for the respective Nobel
Prizes and conduct extensive evaluations
concerning a selection of these
nominees. The Nobel committees
subsequently present their proposals
for Nobel Laureates to their respective
prize-awarding institutions. As such,
the actual decision as to who will be
awarded a Nobel Prize is not made by
the respective Nobel committee, but
by all members of the prize-awarding
institution.
concerning the Peace Prize, Alfred
Nobel assigned the storting (national
parliament) in Norway as the prizeawarding
institution. The storting
appoints the five members of the Norwegian
Nobel committee. The Norwegian
Nobel committee differs from
the other prize-awarding institutions
in as much as it is responsible both for
assessing the nominees and selecting
the final recipient(s).
in sePtember of eacH year the respective
Nobel committees send out

sELECtiNG NoBEL LaurEatEs
nomination
forms are
sent out
DeaDline for
submissions
individual invitations to thousands of
members of academies, university professors
and other scientists in numerous
countries, previous Laureates,
members of parliamentary assemblies
and others. The recipients are chosen
in such a way so as to ensure that as
many countries and universities as
possible are represented over time.
Those who receive an invitation have
the opportunity to nominate Nobel
Prize candidates for the coming year.
Nominations, which are confidential,
must be received by the committees
no later than 31 January of the year in
which the prize will be awarded.
The procedures may vary somewhat
between the Nobel committees, but the
selection process is largely similar for all
prize categories. The committees first
confirm that the nominations have been
assessment of canDiDates WitH
tHe assistance of external exPerts
committee submits
recommenDations
submitted by individuals who have the
right to nominate. since a nomination is
only valid for the current year, it is common
for some candidates to be nominated
several times. some candidates
may also be nominated by more than
one person in the same year. Nominations
are recorded and compiled in a
list. This list is processed in a series of
phases during the spring. initially, it
consists of a large selection of names,
which is then gradually narrowed down
to a smaller number of candidates.
These candidates are then evaluated in
depth with the assistance of domestic
and foreign experts. during the summer
the Nobel committee members produce
a comprehensive report detailing the
candidate or candidates proposed as
Laureates for the year’s Nobel Prizes.
Proposals are presented to the members
The announcement of the 2012 Nobel Prize in Physics
nobel Prize
aWarD ceremony
nobel laureates
are cHosen anD announceD
sePtember 31 January february–august sePtember oktober 10 December
of the prize-awarding institutions in
september. The final selection of Nobel
Laureates is conducted by a vote. The
final decisions are announced by the
respective prize-awarding institutions
immediately after voting, usually during
the first half of october.
According to the Nobel Foundation’s
statutes, prizes can be equally
shared between two works, though
by not more than three individuals.
All documents related to the nomination
process and evaluations are kept
confidential for 50 years.
more information about the prize-awarding
institutions is available on their respective websites:
www.kva.se
www.nobelprizemedicine.org
www.svenskaakademien.se
www.nobelpeaceprize.org
pHoto: markus marCEtiC / © kuNGL. vEtENskapsakaDEmiEN.
23

The nObel fOundaTiOn
tHe nobel founDation is a private
institution established in 1900 based
on the will of Alfred Nobel and the
founding statutes promulgated in connection
with the will. one central task
of the Foundation is to manage Alfred
Nobel’s fortune. The Foundation is
to manage Nobel’s assets in such a
manner that ensures a secure financial
standing for the Nobel Prize in the
long-term, as well as the independence
of the prize-awarding institutions in
their work of selecting Laureates. The
Nobel Foundation also manages the
intellectual property assets that have
developed over the more than one
hundred years that the Nobel Prize has
been awarded. The Nobel Foundation
also strives to safeguard the prizeawarding
institutions’ common interests
and to represent the Nobel sphere.
The Nobel Foundation’s work
intensifies during the autumn in connection
with the Nobel Week that takes
place in stockholm in december. This is
a week that includes a busy schedule for
Nobel Laureates and that culminates in
the Nobel Prize Award ceremony and
the Nobel Banquet held on december
10. Both of these events are planned
and organised by the Foundation.
The Nobel Foundation is also
responsible for the publication of the
Nobel Lectures on Nobelprize.org, the
official website of the Nobel Prize, and
administering and funding the Nobel
symposia within each prize category.
Three Nobel symposia were held in
2012: Nanoscale Energy Converters,
Economic Growth and Development
and Physics with Radioactive Beams.
The latter symposium for instance,
held in gothenburg, gathered over
thirty leading scientists from around
the world to discuss exotic, short-lived
nuclei, which organisers describe as
a “a textbook example of purely scientific,
curiosity-driven basic research
that is a prerequisite for technologybased
society”.
24
tHe norWegian nobel institute was
established in 1904 and serves as
the Norwegian Nobel committee’s
secretariat and the Nobel Foundation’s
representative in oslo. The institute
administers the activities related to the
awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize,
such as the prize ceremony and the
banquet.
tHe market value of the Nobel
Foundation’s total invested capital
amounted to seK 3,075 million at
the end of 2012. investment capital
is distributed as 51 per cent equities,
16 per cent fixed-income assets and
33 per cent alternative assets. in June
2012 the Board of directors decided to
lower the Prize sum from seK 10 to 8
million, a measure aimed at avoiding
an undermining of the Foundation’s
capital in a long-term perspective. At
the same time, a decision was made to
reduce the average compensation to
the Prize committees by ten per cent.
Measures were also taken to lower the
costs of the Nobel Foundation’s central
administration and the Nobel festivities.
The total cost for all Nobel Prizes
and operating expenses was seK 107,9
million. This was divided among three
main categories: the prizes and compensation
paid to the prize-awarding
institutions (nearly seK 70,1 million);
the Nobel Week in stockholm and the
Nobel days in oslo (seK 15,6 million);
and administration, the Nobel
symposia, etc. (seK 22,2 million).
Additional information about the
Nobel Foundation’s financial management
is available in the Foundation’s
annual report for 2012, published on
Nobelprize.org.
tHe nobel Prize aWarDing institutions
elect, for two calendar years, fifteen
trustees to the Nobel Foundation. six
representatives are chosen by the Academy
of sciences and the other three
by each of the other prize-awarding
institutions. The Academy of sciences
also appoints four deputies and the
other institutions two deputies each.
The trustees elect a chairman from
their own number. The trustees’ most
important task is to appoint the Nobel
Foundation’s Board and to audit the
Nobel Foundation’s accounts. At its
annual meeting, usually held in late
April, the trustees approve the previous
year’s accounts and discharge the
Nobel Foundation’s Board of directors
from personal liability.
The Nobel Foundation’s administration
and its accounts are audited
annually by six auditors, who work
together in the so-called “auditing
team”. The trustees elect one of the
Foundation’s auditors, who must
be an authorised public accountant.
other auditors are elected by the
prize-awarding institutions, except for
the chairman, who is appointed by the
government. All auditors are elected
for a term of one year.
tHe nobel founDation’s boarD is
based in stockholm and consists
of seven members and two deputy
members elected by the Trustees of the
Nobel Foundation. Board members
and deputies are appointed for a term
of two years each. From among its
own members, the Board chooses a
chairman, a vice chairman and an
executive director.
Mr Marcus storch, Md h.c., regular
member of the Nobel Foundation’s
Board since 1996 and chairman since
2005, resigned on 1 May 2013 as his
term expired upon turning 70. Professor
carl-Henrik Heldin has been elected as
the new chairman from 1 May, 2013.

Reception at the Nordic Museum on 9 December,
hosted jointly by the Nobel Foundation and the
Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
Press conference at the
Nobel Foundation in December 2012
Board of Directors. From the left: Tomas Nicolin, Peter Englund, Kaci Kullmann Five, Astrid Gräslund,
Staffan Normark, Lars Bergström. Seated: Lars Heikensten, Marcus Storch and Göran K. Hansson
rECEptioN & BoarD oF DirECtors, pHoto: orasis. prEss CoNFErENCE, pHoto: NikLas ELmEHED.
no. of employees: 11
ceo: Lars Heikensten
established: 1900
corporate iD no.: 802002-4468
address: sturegatan 14, stockholm, sweden
contact: info@nobel.se, +46 8 663 09 20
Website: www.nobelprize.org/
nobel_organizations/nobelfoundation/
BoarD oF DirECtors
Marcus Storch, mD h.c., Chairman
(until 30 april, 2013)
Carl-Henrik Heldin, professor, Chairman
(from 1 may, 2013)
Göran K. Hansson, professor, vice Chairman,
secretary of the Nobel Committee for
physiology or medicine
Lars Heikensten, Dr, Executive Director
Peter Englund, professor, permanent secretary
of the swedish academy
Tomas Nicolin, msc
Kaci Kullmann Five, Deputy Chair of the
Norwegian Nobel Committee
Staffan Normark, professor, secretary General
of the royal swedish academy of sciences
Lars Bergström, professor, secretary of
the Nobel Committee for physics, Deputy
member
Astrid Gräslund, professor, secretary of the
Nobel Committee for Chemistry, Deputy
member
25

nObel grOuP inTeresTs ab
over tHe last DecaDe, information
efforts related to the Nobel Prize have
expanded considerably. since the funds
of the Nobel Foundation are primarily
intended to be used for the work in
selecting Nobel Laureates and for the
sum of the Nobel Prize, it has become
necessary to form completely new units
to conduct and develop communication
efforts.
With this in mind, the non-profit
Nobel Foundation rights Association
was established in 1999. The Association
has had an overall function as the
umbrella organisation for the following
units: the limited liability companies
Nobel Media AB, Nobelmuseet
AB and Nobelhuset AB in stockholm
as well as Nobels Fredspris – Forskning
og informasjon As (Nobel Peace
Prize – research and information) and
stiftelsen Nobels Fredssenter in oslo.
26
During 2012, the association established
the wholly owned limited
liability company Nobelhuset AB
for the purpose of creating a Nobel
center on the Blasieholmen peninsula
in central stockholm. during the latter
part of the year, the wholly owned
limited liability company Nobel group
interests AB was also established for
the purpose of facilitating financial and
administrative coordination between
the companies. The Nobel Foundation
rights Association’s shareholding in
the other limited liability companies
was then transferred to Nobel group
interests AB, which thus took over the
role as the umbrella organisation for
the other entities within the group. The
organisational structure is presented
on page 20.
all of tHese organisations share the
task of spreading information and
knowledge about the Nobel Prize
and Nobel Laureates’ efforts and of
stimulating interest in science and
humanism.
The organisations base their
activities on the Nobel Foundation’s
intellectual property assets, such as
trademarks and copyrighted material.
Their informational efforts should
therefore be undertaken with a view to
maintaining, preserving and carefully
developing the Nobel Foundation’s
trademarks and to safeguard the longterm
position of the Nobel Prize.
Examples of activities organised within the
subsidiaries of Nobel Group interests aB >

Nobel Week Dialogue
The Nobel Museum gift shop
The Nobel Museum
NoBEL Group iNtErEsts aB
no. of employees: 1
ceo: Lars Heikensten
established: 2012
corporate iD no.: 556903-4613
address: sturegatan 14, stockholm,
sweden
contact: info@nobel.se,
+46 8 663 09 20
Website: www.nobelprize.org/
nobel_organizations/
nobelfoundation/
NoBEL WEEk DiaLoGuE, pHoto: aLEx LJuNGDaHL. NoBEL musEum, pHoto: HELENa karLssoN / © NoBELmusEEt aB.
Nobel Laureates Steven Chu, Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard
and Craig Mello at Nobel Week Dialogue
BoarD oF DirECtors
Marcus Storch, mD h.c., Chairman
(until 30 april, 2013)
Carl-Henrik Heldin, professor, Chairman
(from 1 may, 2013)
Göran K. Hansson, professor, vice Chairman, secretary of
the Nobel Committee for physiology or medicine
Lars Heikensten, Dr, Executive Director
Peter Englund, professor, permanent secretary of the
swedish academy
Tomas Nicolin, msc
Kaci Kullmann Five, Deputy Chair of the Norwegian
Nobel Committee
Staffan Normark, professor, secretary General of the
royal swedish academy of sciences
Lars Bergström, professor, secretary of the Nobel
Committee for physics, Deputy member
Astrid Gräslund, professor, secretary of the Nobel
Committee for Chemistry, Deputy member
27

nObel Media ab
tHe task of tHe comPany Nobel
Media AB is to safeguard the longterm
position of the Nobel Prize and
developing media rights connected with
the prize. operations include a range
of productions, such as the website
Nobelprize.org, live broadcasts and Tv
collaborations from the Nobel Prize
announcements and the Nobel Week in
december. Nobel Media also produce
interview programmes with the year’s
Nobel Laureates, independent science
documentaries, the Nobel Prize concert
as well as international lecture series
and events. Print media is also included
in its portfolio.
nobelPrize.org is the official website
of the Nobel Prize. The Nobel Laureate
section presents information
about all Nobel Prizes since 1901,
including biographies of the Nobel
Laureates, Nobel Lectures, interviews,
photographs, articles, video clips and
information about Nobel Prize-awarded
works. during the announcement
of the Nobel Laureates and Nobel
Week, Nobelprize.org serves as a news
channel. several of the events held in
stockholm and oslo at this time are
broadcast live on the site.
Nobelprize.org also contains an
educational section with some 50 productions,
including knowledge-based
games and productions with special
themes. The games are interactive multimedia
productions aimed at secondary
school students. in 2012, Nobel
Media launched its first official Nobel
Prize app for mobile platforms.
2012 also saw the launch of Nobel
Media’s project to make available fundamental
information about the Nobel
28
Prize and Nobel Laureates in the form
of open and linked data on Nobelprize.org.
The project, which aims to
encourage the development of new
and exciting applications, was made
possible with a grant from the swedish
governmental innovation agency
vinnova.
nobel meDia annually commissions
swedish Television (svT), swedish
radio (sr) and Norsk rikskringkasting
(NrK) to produce broadcasts from
the Nobel Prize Awards ceremonies in
stockholm and oslo and the broadcast
from the Nobel Banquet in stockholm.
All programme rights are held
by Nobel Media. in cooperation with
several renowned international production
companies, the company also produces
a number of documentaries in
addition to the discussion programme
Nobel Minds, featuring the year’s
Nobel Laureates. The programmes
reach a potential viewer audience of
several hundred million, being distributed
via global Tv-stations such as
BBc World News, Public Broadcasting
service (PBs), cNN as well as through
international news agencies, national
Tv networks and radio stations.
in 2012, nobel Week Dialogue became a
new addition to the events forming the
Nobel Week in stockholm. This free
to attend, one day science seminar featured
lectures, debates and discussions
about the role of science in society,
aiming to create a meeting place for
scientists and the interested public. The
inaugural event, under the heading The
Genetic Revolution and its Impact on
Society, featured 36 leading scientists,
debaters and policy makers in discussions
before an audience of around a
thousand attendees.
as Part of the AstraZeneca Nobel
Medicine initiative, four lecture events
took place during 2012 during which
Nobel Laureates got to share their
experiences and inspiring stories with
students and fellow scientists. in conjunction
with the initiative, a half-hour
long science documentary on infectious
diseases, The War Against Microbes,
was produced.
continuing the previous year’s collaboration
with the National geographic
society, three events were
held in Washington, dc where Nobel
Laureates were paired with National
geographic explorers for discussions
under the heading The Big Idea.
nobel meDia also organised the Nobel
Prize concert for the eight consecutive
year. This year’s soloist was violinist
ray chen who performed Max Bruch’s
first violin concerto together with
the royal stockholm Philharmonic
orchestra, conducted by the charismatic
christoph eschenbach. The
concert commenced and ended with
works by Beethoven and Mahler.
nobel meDia’s main sponsors and
partners are AstraZeneca, ericsson,
Akamai, carl Bennet AB, the city of
gothenburg, region västra götaland,
stockholm concert Hall Foundation,
dNB, and on the media side svT,
NrK and BBc World News.

The Nobel Minds programme,
moderated by BBC’s Zeinab Badawi
Soloist at the 2012 Nobel Prize Concert
was the young violinist Ray Chen
proGrammE 2013
as part of the Nobel prize inspiration
initiative, Nobel Laureates
participate in an international
lecture programme held at various
universities and astrazeneca’s
research centres around the world.
the events will be held in russia and
Japan for the first time
may
the documentary Unlocking the
Secrets of our Cells, produced with
support from Ericsson, is released for
disribution on pBs in the usa
the first
official
Nobel prize
app.
oktoBEr
Nobelprize.org broadcasts The 2013
Nobel Prize Announcements live
6 DECEmBEr
Nobelprize.org interview this year’s
Nobel Laureates
7–8 DECEmBEr
Nobelprize.org broadcasts the Nobel
Lectures live
8 DECEmBEr
Nobel prize Concert at the
stockholm Concert Hall, conducted
by riccardo muti
9 DECEmBEr
the open science seminar Nobel
Week Dialogue in Gothenburg
10 DECEmBEr
Live broadcasts from the Nobel
prize award Ceremonies in oslo and
stockholm
11 DECEmBEr
taping of the discussion programme
Nobel Minds
NoBEL miNDs, pHoto: NikLas ELmEHED. BruCE BEutLEr, pHoto: mark BusHy. NoBEL prizE CoNCErt, pHoto: aLEx maHmouD.
Q&A with Bruce Beutler, 2011
Medicine Laureate during an
AstraZeneca Nobel Medicine
Initiative event
The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under the
direction of conductor Christoph Eschenbach
no. of employees: 11 in stockholm and 3 in London
turnover: sEk 44,989k
ceo: Camilla Hyltén-Cavallius (until February, 2013),
mattias Fyrenius (from February, 2013)
established: 2004
corporate iD no.: 556667-5194
address: sturegatan 14, stockholm
contact: info@nobelmedia.se, +46 8 663 17 22
Website: www.nobelprize.org/
nobel_organizations/nobelmedia
BoarD oF DirECtors
Lars Heikensten, Dr, Executive Director of the Nobel
Foundation, Chairman
Patrik Hadenius, Editor-in-Chief and managing Director of
Forskning & Framsteg
Ove Joanson, CEo of media Conglomerate
Lisa Lindström, CEo of Doberman
Geir Lundestad, professor, Director of the Norwegian
Nobel institute
Marie Nilsson, CEo of mediavision
Eva Swartz Grimaldi, Chairman of Norstedts publishing
Group
Gunnar von Heijne, professor, former Chairman of the
Nobel Committee for Chemistry
Barbro Jonsson, Head of administration, Nobel
Foundation, Deputy member
29

nObelMuseeT ab
nobelmuseet ab’s mission is to safeguard
the long-term position of the
Nobel Prize by operating the Nobel
Museum as well as providing information
and conducting research related to
the prize. Activities include exhibitions,
educational programmes, touring
exhibitions and a research library. The
museum is located at stortorget in
gamla stan, stockholm’s old town.
in conjunction with the naming of
the Nobel Museum in 2000, its founders
considered the classical concept
of the Mouseion – ‘a temple for the
Muses’. originally the Mouseion
denoted a kind of research institution
in which the library was a central part.
The Nobel Museum is a museum in the
traditional sense that it strives to share
knowledge in various subject areas
through exhibitions where different
objects play an important roll. That
said, it is also a cultural centre and a
multifaceted meeting place where visitors
can attend discussions, lectures,
family programmes and much more.
Like the classical Mouseion, the
Nobel Museum has its own library
where research provides an important
basis for the museum’s activities.
visiting researchers have access to the
library, school pupils can explore scientific
methods in the laboratory and
students are paired up with research
teams based at swedish universities
through the Forskarhjälpen (research
Aid) project. The Nobel Museum
diverges from traditional museums in
one significant way however, its most
important collection does not consist
of artefacts but rather of a collection
of stories about creativity, determination
and individuals who through their
work have conferred great benefit
upon mankind, in line with Alfred
Nobel’s vision.
2012 began with the opening of the
museum’s exhibition on Marie curie,
in which her persona was depicted,
stirring a pot filled with pitchblende.
it was an exhibition about determination
and devotion, but also about the
30
love shared by a pair of researchers and
passion for science. in one section of
the exhibition, Marie and Pierre curie’s
method for measuring radioactivity
was reconstructed as a lucid illustration
of their search for something new and
unknown. during the stockholm culture
Night event, close to 5,000 visitors
learned more about curie’s story.
The curie exhibition was followed
by Sketches of Science – a collaboration
with the organisers of the annual
conference for Nobel Laureates and
young researchers held in Lindau,
germany – in which the photographer
volker steger’s portraits of past Laureates
illustrate playfulness, creativity
and a desire to communicate. The
portraits were complemented with ”at
home with”-style interviews held in
some of the Nobel Laureates’ laboratories.
Through interviews and film
sequences, visitors to the exhibition
are invited to enter the world of the
scientist’s everyday life.
in september, the Herta Müller
exhibition Life’s Cold Jewellery
opened, with emphasis on the Literature
Laureate’s time in romania.
This exhibition was a production on
loan from Litteraturhaus München in
germany that had been adapted to suit
the Nobel Museum’s spaces. Naturally,
one of the highlights of the exhibition
was when Müller herself came to speak
about her authorship and what life is
like for a writer in exile.
Parallel to Life’s Cold Jewellery,
another smaller exhibition showcased
artefacts from the museum’s collection
in honour of the 50th anniversary of
the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
to Francis crick, Maurice Wilkins
and James Watson, for their discoveries
pertaining to the structure of dNA.
for tHe seconD year running, a
collaborative project was carried out
with Beckmans college of design in
which fashion students interpreted the
2012 Nobel Prizes in the exhibition
Fashion Innovation 2. Another creative
installation was the presentation of
Literature Laureate Wisława szymborska’s
works using audio and text in the
museum’s café and cloakroom, among
other places. According to annual
tradition, reproductions of the year’s
Nobel diplomas were displayed in the
museum’s bistro from 11 december.
in may, psychiatrist and author oliver
sacks rounded off the Neale Wheeler
Watson lecture series with a talk entitled
Narrative and Medicine: The Case
History. over the years, these lectures
held by some of the world’s leading
academics have attracted large audiences
to the Nobel Museum.
in the late summer, a collaborative
concert project with stockholm cathedral
featured composer georg riedel
along with other musicians in performance
of a number of newly written
pieces based on Literature Laureate
Tomas Tranströmer’s lyric poetry.
tHe nobel museum is more than its
exhibitions. Through literature talks,
book groups, science cafés, research
seminars, guided tours and lectures,
the Nobel Museum engages a broad
audience in every corner of its limited
floor space. A conversation in its
restaurant over a plate of good food is
just as important a part of the museum
as the artefact on display. The intriguing
assortment in the museum’s gift
shop, including literature for more
in-depth study, clever toys and quality
souvenirs, enhance the experience and
attract many to the museum. in 2012,
the museum had 168, 000 visitors and
welcomed 600 school groups.
The museum’s main sponsor is
Handelsbanken. Project sponsors are
Akzo Nobel, Bonnier AB, samsung
and The confederation of swedish
enterprise (svenskt Näringsliv). The
city of stockholm as well as the Ministries
of culture and education support
the operations with annual grants
while the swedish research council
and the swedish Foundation for
strategic research fund the museum’s
research activities.

The Herta Müller exhibition
Life’s Cold Jewellery opened in 2012
proGrammE 2013
During the year, the exhibition
Sketches of Science: Meetings with
Nobel Laureates will travel to Frankfurt,
Berlin, Heidelberg and Lindau
15 FEBruary – 2 JuNE
Tomas Tranströmer – To Go Into
Reality Itself – an exhibition about the
Literature Laureate featuring artistic
interpretations of his poems by an
international array of book binders
15 marCH
Reopening of the museum’s gallery
featuring artefacts of Nobel Laureates
23 marCH
tomas tranströmer – theme day
18 apriL
afternoon tea: The Nobel Prize in
Physics– ”Invention or Discovery”?
23 apriL
research seminar
Chemistry at Deutsches museum with
producer susanne rehn-taube
15 JuNi – 17 NovEmBEr
Making Peace – a photo exhibition by
the international peace Bureau (ipB)
17 sEptEmBEr – 18 oCtoBEr
Focus on peace issues and the peace
prize in school programmes and
general activities
sEptEmBEr – DECEmBEr
the research aid programme for high
school, on energy and solar cells
17 oktoBEr
presentations of the 2013 Nobel prizes
11 NovEmBEr
the 2013 Nobel prize theme day –
high school students meet researchers
working within the different prize
categories
10 DECEmBEr
Gold, glitter and champagne –
celebrate the Nobel Day at the Nobel
museum
programme selection,
for the calendar in full, please visit:
www.nobelmuseum.se
HErta müLLEr, pHoto: ©BEttiNa FLitNEr. FasHioN iNNovatioN 2, pHoto: orasis. skEtCHEs oF sCiENCE, pHoto: aNNa stENkuLa.
Fashion students created
their own interpretations
of the 2012 Nobel Prizes in
Fashion Innovation 2
Portraits of Nobel
Laureates in Sketches of Science
no. of employees: 39
turnover: sEk 42,989k
ceo: olov amelin, Dr.
established: 2004. operations were previously
conducted through Nobel Foundation rights association.
corporate iD no.: 556667-5210
address: stortorget 2, stockholm, sweden
contact: info@nobelmuseum.se, +46 8 534 818 00
Website: www.nobelmuseum.se
BoarD oF DirECtors
Lars Heikensten, Dr., Executive Director of the Nobel
Foundation, Chairman
Jim Bennett, professor and Director, museum of the
History of science, oxford university
peje Emilsson, Chairman of kreab Gavin anderson
Barbro osher, Honorary Consul General of sweden in
san Francisco
Nina Wormbs, associate professor, royal institute of
technology (ktH)
per molander, Director General, swedish social insurance
inspectorate
klas kärre, professor, Deputy Chairman of the Nobel
assembly at karolinska institutet and member of the
Nobel Committee for physiology or medicine
Barbro Jonsson, Head of administration, Nobel
Foundation, Deputy member
31

nObel Peace cenTer
fOundaTiOn
tHrougH exHibitions, films, seminars
and conferences, the Nobel Peace
center, a Norwegian foundation,
presents the Nobel Peace Prize laureates
and their work, Alfred Nobel, and
issues related to war, peace and conflict
resolution.
The Nobel Peace center is located
at rådhusplassen in oslo, housed in
the old vestbane railway station. during
2012, a comprehensive program
of exhibitions and events made for a
record 201 616 visitors, the busiest
year since the center opened in 2005.
Most events are streamed live online
and reach an even wider audience. The
exhibitions and events have on the
whole received very positive reviews
and been widely mentioned in domestic
and international media.
The self-produced exhibition
Transit, on the Norwegian Peace Prize
laureate Fridtjof Nansen, and the situation
for refugees today, was on display
until 22 January.
from 10 february through 2 september,
the In Afghanistan exhibition was
shown. it was the first time that the
works of acclaimed photographers
Tim Hetherington and Lynsey Addario
were jointly exhibited, one on masculinity
and vulnerability among American
soldiers, the other portraying the
lives of Afghan women. The exhibition
included six short video documentaries
from Kabul, and a small exhibition
entitled Hope featuring photographs
taken with disposable cameras by
Afghan children.
32
proGrammE 2013
7 marCH
the European Identities exhibition –
twelve young European photographers
27 sEptEmBEr
the photo exhibition Hungry Planet on
the topic of food and the environment
12 oCtoBEr
open day to celebrate the
2013 Nobel Peace Prize
in connection with Aung san suu
Kyi’s historic Nobel Lecture on June
16, the exhibition Mother Democracy
opened. it was a tribute to the Peace
Prize Laureate and the recent progress
in Burma. The Nobel Peace center and
other organizations arranged a large
celebration with speeches and music,
ending with a speech by Aung san suu
Kyi herself on the city Hall square,
attended by 12 000 people. Prior to
the celebration, a large outdoor screen
broadcast Aung san suu Kyi’s Nobel
Lecture live, and 600 Burmese in exile
met “The Lady” inside the Nobel
Peace center.
tHe comPreHensive exhibition Eye on
Gandhi opened 21 september, consisting
of two parts: The self-produced
ABC of Gandhi, on his life and work,
and the photo series In India by legendary
photographer Henri cartier-
Bresson.
Eye on Gandhi told the story of
why he did not get the Nobel Peace
Prize. gandhi was nominated many
times, and might have been awarded it
in 1948 had he not been murdered. The
nominations of gandhi from the Nobel
committee archive were displayed for
the first time in an exhibition. The film
Gandhi – The Missing Laureate was
made for the exhibition, narrated by sir
Ben Kingsley who played gandhi in the
movie with the same name.
The photographer Henri cartier-
Bresson was one of the last persons to
meet gandhi. cartier-Bresson spoke
with gandhi only an hour before he
uNtiL 26 NovEmBEr
Europe from War to Peace, the
2012 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate
Exhibition
12 DECEmBEr
the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize
Laureate Exhibition. Free entrance
12–30 December.
was shot and killed on 30 January
1948, and his photos are the last that
were taken of gandhi.
on october 22, the Cartoons in
Conflict exhibition opened, where
cartoons are utilised as a means for
dialogue in israel and Palestine. The
organisers were The Parents circle –
Families Forum, who have showed the
exhibition around the world.
The 2011 Nobel Peace Prize laureate
exhibition, SHEROES, about ellen
Johnson sirleaf, Leymah gbowee and
Tawakkul Karman, was on display
until 28 November.
tHe 2012 Nobel Peace Prize laureate
exhibition, Europe from War to Peace,
on how the eu have contributed to
secure a peaceful europe, was opened
by the Presidents of the european
commission and Parliament, José
Manuel Barroso and Martin schulz, on
11 december. All the Nobel Peace Prize
Laureate exhibitions are self-produced.
Throughout 2012, a total of 873
school groups and 715 groups of
adults participated in educational programmes
or guided tours. The museum
shop and the restaurant Alfred have
also attracted visitors to the center.
Both the Fritt ord Foundation and
the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign
Affairs have contributed to a number
of events and partly funded several
exhibitions. The Nobel Peace center’s
main sponsors and collaborators are
Hydro, Telenor group, orkla, ABB
and The Football Association of
Norway.
FrEE ENtraNCE DuriNG
sEvEraL LoCaL EvENts, iNCLuDiNG:
21 apriL
tourist in your own city
8 JuNE
Nobels peace Center’s
birthday
18 auGust
mela – World performing arts
Festival
13 sEptEmBEr
oslo Culture Night
programme selection, for the calendar in full,
please visit www.nobelpeacecenter.org

The Eye on Gandhi exhibition
Europe from War to Peace, the 2012
Nobel Peace Prize Laureate exhibition
no. of employees: 27 address: Brynjulf Bulls plass 1,
turnover: Nok 52,005k rådhusplassen, oslo, Norway
ceo: Bente Erichsen contact: post@nobelpeacecenter.org,
established: 2005 +47 48 30 10 00
corporate iD no.: 985226237 Website: www.nobelpeacecenter.org
BoarD oF DirECtors
martiN sCHuLz aND José maNuEL Barroso, Eu-ExHiBit, pHoto: sara JoHaNNEssEN. aLL otHEr pHotos: JoHaNNEs GraNsEtH.
Geir Lundestad, professor, Director of the Norwegian Nobel institute, Chairman
Kaci Kullmann Five, Deputy Chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee
Siri Hatlen, msc/mBa
Olav Aaraas, Historian, museum Director, Norsk Folkemuseum
Olov Amelin, Dr, museum Director, Nobel museum
33

nObel Peace Prize
– research and
infOrMaTiOn
in 2013, Nobels Fredspriskonsert
As will change its name to Nobels
Fredspris – Forskning og informasjon
As (Nobel Peace Prize – research and
information).
The organisation receives its
income from the annual Nobel Peace
Prize concert and a license agreement
with the Mint of Norway. The proceeds
go towards funding the organisation
in its capacity as the research wing
of the Norwegian Nobel institute. during
2012, the political scientist Asle
Toje was recruited as research director.
Activities centre around research
on international relations, peace and
conflict in addition to international
fellows programmes, seminars and
lectures such as the Nobel symposia.
As part of the annual teachers’
seminar, 28 selected applicants among
Norway’s high-school teachers were in
2012 invited in to the institute for an
34
intensive three day seminar on contemporary
international relations.
NoBELs FrEDspris – ForskNiNG oG iNFormasJoN as
no. of employees: 1
turnover: Nok 3,740k
established: 2010 (formerly Nobels Fredspriskonsert as)
corporate iD no. : 996179397
address: Henrik ibsens gate 51, oslo, Norway
contact: +47 22 12 93 00, info@nobelpeaceprizeconcert.no,
Website: nobelpeaceprize.org and nobelpeaceprizeconcert.org
tHe visiting felloWs Programme that
was brought back to life in the early
1990s is a continuation of the earliest
ambitions for the Norwegian Nobel
institute to be a place for learning
with direct access to the most recent
developments in peace related research.
The result is a series of well-attended
lectures at the institute open to the
public.
The 2012 programme took place
under the heading Power & Polarity
– After the Post Cold War, with focus
on past polarity transitions in terms
of stability and the role of power. The
programme explored how established
great powers have adjusted to new
systemic circumstances after the cold
War, including the topic of ascending
powers and their use of power. To
consider these questions, twelve leading
thinkers from russia, usA, Japan,
india, Britain, France and china were
invited to conduct their research at the
Norwegian Nobel institute during the
spring of 2012.
in co-oPeration WitH iMg and eyeworks
dinamo, the organisation annually
produces the Nobel Peace Prize
concert – a tribute to the year’s Nobel
Peace Prize Laureates featuring live
music ranging from pop and rock to
jazz, classical, blues and country. seal,
Kylie Minogue and Jennifer Hudson
were among the artists who performed
during the 2012 concert, which was
distributed to around 100 countries
and supported by global benefactors
Thomas L. Pearson and The Pearson
Family Members Fund.
BoarD oF DirECtors
Geir Lundestad, professor, Director of the Norwegian
Nobel institute, Chairman
Kaci Kullmann Five, Deputy Chair of the Norwegian
Nobel Committee
Odd Arvid Strømstad, managing Director of Eyeworks Dinamo
Asle Toje, political scientist, research Director
Annika Pontikis, public relations manager, Nobelstiftelsen

Martin Schulz and José Manuel Barroso at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert
proGrammE 2013
14 marCH
William i. Hitchcock, professor of History,
university of virginia, The rise and fall of
human rights? Searching for a narrative from
the Cold War to the 9/11 era
21 marCH
torbjørn knutsen, professor of political
science, Norwegian university of science
and technology (NtNu), Belle époque foreign
policy liberalism – a historical comparison of the
1890s and the 1990s
11 apriL
Jean-yves Haine, professor of political science,
university of toronto, Beyond sovereignty: war
and in the making and unmaking of Europe
18 apriL
Lars trägårdh, professor of History, Ersta
College, The Nordic paradox: Welfare state
nationalism in bed with free market capitalism
pHoto: DaNiEL saNNum-LautEN / aFp / sCaNpix
25 apriL
asle toje, research Director, the Norwegian
Nobel institute, E. H. Carr and realist visions of
the post-Cold War
2 may
mary kaldor, professor of Global Governance,
London school of Economics, The war on
terror and the marginalizing of the human
security discourses
8 may
Geir Lundestad, Director, the Norwegian
Nobel institute, Is the United States still number
one? The most recent evidence
23 may
steven Lobell, professor of political science,
university of utah, Power and the balance of
power in the post-Cold War period
28 may
robert Cooper, Counsellor in the European
External action service, Soft power, the
postmodern state and the world order
30 may
paola subacchi, research Director,
international Economics, Chatham House,
Rethinking globalisation in the post-crisis world
6 JuNE
Gideon rachmann, Editor, the Financial
times, From ‘enlightened self-interest to zerosum
world’ – the post-Cold War and what
followed
13 JuNE
Jonathan kirshner, professor of Government,
Cornell university, From the Berlin Wall to
Lehman Brothers: Ideology, interest, and the
American global financial order
25 JuNE
Niall Ferguson, professor of History, Harvard
university, When the world seemed new –
visions and revisions of the post-Cold War
11 DECEmBEr
Nobel peace prize Concert in oslo spektrum
35

nObelhuseT ab
tHe obJective of the company Nobelhuset
AB is to plan, construct, own,
manage and develop the Nobel center,
a building for cultural and scientific
activities on the Blasieholmen peninsula
in central stockholm, and to carry
out related activities.
on the basis of Alfred Nobel’s last
will and testament, the Nobel Prize
is awarded to those who, through
their discoveries and achievements,
have conferred the greatest benefit on
mankind. The future Nobel center will
act in the same spirit by encouraging
creativity and innovation. The Nobel
Prize fields, the Laureates’ achievements,
their life stories and the future
perspectives in their fields provide a
rich source of inspiration on which the
center will build its exhibitions, media
productions and activities.
With the Nobel Prize as its starting
point, the center will stimulate curiosity
and learning among a younger generation
and serve as a complement to
schooling and higher education. some
of its activities will more specifically be
aimed towards the swedish and international
scientific community. The new
building will enable the Nobel sphere
to arrange conferences and symposia
under its own auspices as well as in
collaboration with scientific institutions
and organisations. The center
36
NoBELHusEt aB
no. of employees: 1
established: 2012
corporate iD no.: 556884-6421
turnover: sEk 3,422k
address: sturegatan 14, stockholm, sweden
contact: nobelcenter@nobel.se
will also pursue its own research about
the Nobel Prize and related fields.
in addition to public spaces for
exhibitions, scientific conferences,
meetings and events, the building will
contain a library, restaurant, café and
shop. The ambition is for the Nobel
center to be one of stockholm’s main
visitor attractions.
During 2012, the city of stockholm
and the swedish government expressed
strong support for the creation of a
Nobel center at Blasieholmen. Agreement
was reached on construction at a
city-owned site on the north side of the
Blasieholm peninsula, facing Nybroviken
bay – and adjacent to Nationalmuseum
(the National Museum of
Fine Arts) and the Museum Park.
encouraging discussions are continuing
with prospective donors for financing
the construction. in addition, the
selection process for the international
architectural competition to determine
the building’s design was initiated
early this year. A specially appointed
evaluation committee considered more
than 140 architects and then selected
12 finalists who will be invited to take
part in the competition. The names
of these architects were announced in
March 2013.
The site on the north side of the
Blasieholmen peninsula, facing Nybroviken
and adjacent to Nationalmuseum
and the Museum Park, is owned by
the city of stockholm. it will be made
available to the Nobel center as a site
leasehold. The architectural competition
will include the planning of the
building and land use on the site up to
the waterfront. To enable the architects
to create a good overall solution,
they will also be allowed to include
improvements to land and water areas
outside the actual site in their competition
proposals. The Nobel center’s
location on the Blasieholmen peninsula
requires careful consideration of,
and sensitity towards, the urban and
marine setting as well as the surrounding
institutions. A well-functioning
relationship between these elements is
essential to the successful realisation of
the project.
tHe arcHitectural comPetition will
begin once most of the financing has
been secured. Hopefully this will occur
during 2013, with an eye to starting
construction in 2015 after the winning
proposal has been further refined.
According to this preliminary timetable,
the completed Nobel center can
be inaugurated in december 2018.
BoarD oF DirECtors
Lars Heikensten, Dr, Executive Director of the Nobel Foundation, Chairman
Olov Amelin, Dr, museum Director, Nobel museum
Lars Anell, Chairman of the swedish research Council
Staffan Normark, professor, secretary General of the royal swedish academy of sciences
Anders Nylander, former Executive Director of atrium Ljungberg
Hans Dalborg, Dr, former Executive Director and Chairman of Nordea
Barbro Jonsson, Head of administration, Nobel Foundation, deputy member

site plan of Blasieholmen, the competition site for the Nobel Center marked with (map scale 1:4000)
pHoto aBovE: JEppE Wikström. iLLustratioN: aHrBom & partNEr arkitEktkoNtor.
37

in 1901, 113 guests attended the first Nobel Banquet in the “Hall
of Mirrors” at stockholm’s grand Hôtel. The 2012 banquet in
stockholm’s city Hall seated 1,220 guests. The evening’s dinner
was made possible with the collective effort from around 40
chefs and 260 waiters. The meticulous table setting at city Hall
consisted of around 470 meters of linen cloth, 7,000 porcelain
pieces, 5,400 glasses and 10,000 pieces of cutlery. The floral
decorations were inspired by the evening’s entertainment on the
theme of “endeavour” by circus cirkör – the Blue Hall was filled
with acrobats, trapeze artists, tightrope walkers, musicians, children,
young and old, which reflected the full spectrum of cirkus
cirkör’s activities.
during the latter part of the dinner, one Laureate from each
prize category gave a banquet speech while students assembled
with massed standards on the grand stairway. dancing followed
in the golden Hall, where the Laureates’ Nobel medals and handcrafted
diplomas were displayed during the evening.
vioLiNist, CaNDLELit taBLE aND roBErt J. LEFkoWitz’ BaNquEt spEECH, pHoto: orasis.
aLL otHEr imaGEs oN tHE BaNquEt paGE sprEaD, pHoto: HELENa pauLiN-strömBErG.
38

Cirkus Cirkör has participated in the Nobel Banquet
twice. Their first appearance in 2002 led them to new
long-term partnerships in areas of pedagogics and
neuroscience, which in turn resulted in innovative
performances as well as interdisciplinary research
projects. Photo: Niklas Elmehed.
3

P.o. Box 5232, se-102 45 stockholm, sweden,
Tel: +46 8 663 09 20, Fax: +46 8 660 38 47
e-mail: info@nobel.se, Web: Nobelprize.org