The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet chooses the Nobel laureates in Physiology or Medicine. Eligible people nominate candidates; the Nobel Committee assesses candidates and recommends them, but does not make the final award decision. The annual process starts in September, nominations are due by 31 January, and the laureates are announced in early October.
How the selection process works
| Stage | When | Who acts | What happens |
|---|---|---|---|
| Invitations | September | Nobel Prize organization and eligible nominators | Invitations are sent to people qualified to nominate. Self-nominations are not accepted. |
| Nomination | By 31 January | Eligible nominators | Nominators submit written proposals for the coming year’s prize. |
| Assessment | February to early October | Nobel Committee and outside experts | The committee reviews nominations, evaluates a selection of candidates, and obtains expert assessment. |
| Final decision | Before the announcement | Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet | The committee presents proposals; the 50-member Assembly selects the laureates. |
| Public announcement | Early October | Prize-awarding institution | The laureates are announced at a press conference. |
The Nobel Prize’s 2025 media information gives this annual calendar: Nobel Week Stockholm 2025: Detailed information for the media. The Assembly’s membership is reported in the Nobel Foundation’s 2024 annual review, published in 2025: The Nobel Foundation annual review 2024.
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Who can nominate someone, and can you nominate yourself?
Nominations are by invitation, not open public submission. People cannot nominate themselves. Nobel Prize guidance describes eligible nominators as including certain academy members, university professors, scientists, previous laureates, and other qualified people. The specific rules for the Physiology or Medicine prize determine who is eligible in a given nomination year; the general examples should not be treated as a complete current roster.
The Nobel Foundation statutes require nominations to be written and made by someone competent to nominate. For current category-specific eligibility rules, see the nomination information for Physiology or Medicine and the Statutes of the Nobel Foundation.
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- Author: Ishiguro, Kazuo.
- Publisher: Vintage International
- Pages: 245
- Publication Date: 1990-09-12
- Edition: First Edition
What the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine recognizes
Alfred Nobel’s will defined this prize as going to “the person who shall have made the most important discovery within the domain of physiology or medicine.” That is the governing phrase behind a category that can encompass more than a narrowly defined medical treatment. A retrospective NobelPrize.org account says the remit has been interpreted broadly, covering biomedical research and clinical medicine as well as work that overlaps with biological and behavioral sciences. That description is a historical account of interpretation, not a change to the will’s wording.
The Nobel Foundation reproduces the will in its statutes; NobelPrize.org discusses the prize’s history in The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1901–2000.
Are nominations public?
No. Nomination and evaluation information is confidential for 50 years under the Nobel Foundation’s rules. As a result, current nominees cannot be confirmed through public records. The Nobel Prize nomination archive is not a live or complete list: the page surfaced for the archive reported 5,110 nominations for Physiology or Medicine from 1901 through 1953 and warns that the database is incomplete and may lag. That is the archive’s stated historical count and coverage, not a count of every nomination ever made.
See the Nobel Prize nomination archive and NobelPrize.org’s Facts on the Nobel Prizes in Physiology or Medicine for the archive and confidentiality information.
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How many awards and laureates are there?
NobelPrize.org’s page for all Physiology or Medicine prizes reports 116 awards to 232 laureates for 1901–2025. The figures distinguish awards from laureates because a prize may be shared. See All Nobel Prizes in Physiology or Medicine.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.When are winners announced and awarded the prize?
The laureates are announced in early October. The Nobel Prize ceremony takes place on 10 December, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death. The announcement and ceremony are separate points in the process: the Assembly’s selection precedes the public announcement, while the ceremony follows later in the year. The 2025 schedule is described in NobelPrize.org’s media information; the 10 December date follows Nobel’s will, reproduced in the Nobel Foundation statutes.
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