A

Project Report on
Nobel Prize

Submitted To: Mr. Pradeep Barman Sir (Faculty of English Literature)

Roll no: 149

Semester-II

(B.A.L.L.B. Hons.)

Submitted By: Shubhankar Thakur

Hidayatullah National Law University

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 Table of Contents
Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………………………….3

Declaration…………………………………………………………………………………………..4

Objectives and Research Methodology……………………………………………………………..5

Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………….6

1. History of Nobel Prize……………………………………………………………………….7

2. India’s position in winning Nobel Prize……………………………………………………..12

Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………….......15

References…………………………………………………………………………………………...16

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 Acknowledgements

First & foremost, I take this opportunity to thank Mr. Pradeep Barman Sir, Faculty,
English, HNLU, for allotting me this challenging topic to work on. He has been very kind
in providing inputs for this work, by way of suggestions and by giving his very precious
time for some discussion and providing me resource of his vast knowledge of the subject
which helped me to look at the topic in its very broad sense also to look at some of the very
narrow concepts by expertise view. Therefore he proved to be a database in making this
project. Hence I would like to thank her.

I would also like to thank my dear colleagues and friends in the University, who have
helped me with ideas about this work and also a source for constant motivation and hence
they were a guiding force to me in making of this project. Last, but not the least I thank the
University Administration for equipping the University with such good library and IT lab.

My special thanks to library staff and IT staff for equipping me with the necessary books
and data from the website.

I would also like to thank the hostel staff for providing me a healthy and clean environment
that provided me a great concentration level.

Shubhankar Thakur

Roll No. – 149

Semester- II (B.A.L.L.B. Hons.)

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 DECLARATION
I, Shubhankar Thakur, hereby declare that, the project work entitled, ‘‘Nobel Prize’’ submitted to
H.N.L.U., Raipur is record of an original work done by me under the guidance of Mr. Pradeep Barman Sir,
Faculty Member, H.N.L.U., Raipur.

Shubhankar thakur
Section-B, Batch XIII
Roll No. 149

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 Research Methodology
This Research Project is Descriptive in nature as it uses descriptive language for the explanation of
various topics and subjects discussed in this project.

Research Objectives

1. To discuss about the history of Nobel Prize.

2. To discuss its significance and India’s position in winning Nobel Prize.

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 Introduction
Nobel Prize, an award about which every scientist, medical practitioner, biologist and various experts of
various fields always dream of having it sometime. Nobel Prize is considered the most prestigious award
in the world.Nobel Prize is a set of annual international awards bestowed in a number of categories by
Swedish and Norwegian committees in recognition of cultural and/or scientific advances. The will of the
Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel established the prizes in 1895. The prizes in Physics, Chemistry,
Physiology or Medicine, Literature, and Peace were first awarded in 1901 1.

The related Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences was created in 1968. Between 1901 and 2012,
the Nobel Prizes and the Prize in Economic Sciences were awarded 555 times to 856 people and
organizations. With some receiving the Nobel Prize more than once, this makes a total of 835 individuals
and 21 organizations.

The Peace Prize is awarded in Oslo, Norway, while the other prizes are awarded in Stockholm, Sweden.
The Nobel Prize is widely regarded as the most prestigious award available in the fields of literature,
medicine, physics, chemistry, peace, and economics2. From 1901 to present India has won 9 Nobel’s.

In this paper I am going to discuss about the starting and history of Nobel Prize, its significance and
India’s position in winning Nobel Prize.

1
"Which country has the best brains?” BBC News. 8 October 2010. Retrieved on 6 December, 2011.
2
Shalev, Baruch Aba (2005). 100 years of Nobel prizes (Third ed.). The Americas Group.

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 [1] History of Nobel Prize
Before we discuss about the history of Nobel Prize and its development and significance, we must first
know about the man who created this prize, whose name this prize holds, Sir Alfred BernhardNobel.

Alfred Bernhard Nobel

He was a Swedish chemist, engineer, innovator, and armaments manufacturer. He was born on October
21, 1833, in Stockholm and died on December 10, 1896, in San Remo. He was the inventor of dynamite.
He was devoted to the study of explosives, and his inventions include a blasting cap, dynamite and
smokeless gunpowder. Nobel became famous across the world when the St. Gotthard Tunnel was built in
1882 and dynamite was used for the first time on such a large scale. At the time of his death, Nobel held
355 patents in different countries. There were Nobel parent companies in some 20 countries and
explosives of all kinds were being manufactured under his patents in around 100 factories worldwide.
Nobel also owned Bofors, which he had redirected from its previous role as primarily an iron and steel
producer to a major manufacturer of cannon and other armaments. Nobel held 350 different patents,
dynamite being the most famous. His fortune was used posthumously to institute the Nobel Prizes. The
synthetic element nobelium was named after him. His name also survives in modern-day companies such
as Dynamite Nobel and AkzoNobel, which are descendants of or mergers with companies Nobel himself
established.
Nobel lived and worked in many countries, including Sweden, Russia, France, the United Kingdom,
Germany and Italy. He spoke five languages, had a passionate interest in literature and wrote poetry and
drama. He could never have imagined how important his prize would become, or how much media
attention future Nobel Laureates would attract.
On November 27, 1895, Alfred Nobel signed his third and last will at the Swedish-Norwegian Club in
Paris. When it was opened and read after his death, the will caused a lot of controversy both in Sweden
and internationally, as Nobel had left much of his wealth for the establishment of a prize. His family
opposed the establishment of the Nobel Prize, and the prize awarders he named refused to do what he had
requested in his will. After taxes and bequests to individuals, Nobel's will allocated 94% of his total assets,
31,225,000 Swedish kronor, to establish the five Nobel Prizes. This converted to GBP £1,687,837 at the

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time. In 2012, the capital was worth around SEK 3.1 billion (USD 472 million, EUR 337 million), which
is almost twice the amount of the initial capital, taking inflation into account3.

The Establishment of the Nobel Prize

In the excerpt of the will, Alfred Nobel dictates that his entire remaining estate should be used to endow
"prizes to those who, during the preceding year, shall have conferred the greatest benefit to mankind. The
whole of my remaining realizable estate shall be dealt with in the following way: 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 on
mankind. The said interest shall be divided into five equal parts, which shall be apportioned as follows:
one part to the person who shall have made the most important discovery or invention within the field of
physics; one part to the person who shall have made the most important chemical discovery or
improvement; one part to the person who shall have made the most important discovery within the domain
of physiology or medicine; one part to the person who shall have produced in the field of literature the
most outstanding work in an ideal direction; and one part to the person who shall have done the most or
the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the
holding and promotion of peace congresses. The prizes for physics and chemistry shall be awarded by the
Swedish Academy of Sciences; that for physiology or medical works by the Karolinska Institute in
Stockholm; that for literature by the Academy in Stockholm, and that for champions of peace by a
committee of five persons to be elected by the Norwegian Storting. It is my express wish that in awarding
the prizes no consideration be given to the nationality of the candidates, but that the most worthy shall
receive the prize, whether he be Scandinavian or not4."

3
Lobell, Håkan (2010). Historical Monetary and Financial Statistics for Sweden Exchange rates, prices, and wages,.p. 291.
4
http://www.nobelprize.org/alfred_nobel/will.

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 Nobel Prize

The Nobel Prize a set of annual international awards bestowed in a number of categories by Swedish and
Norwegian committees in recognition of cultural and/or scientific advances. The will of the Swedish
inventor Alfred Nobel established the prizes in 1895. The prizes in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or
Medicine, Literature, and Peace were first awarded in 1901. The related Nobel Memorial Prize in
Economic Sciences5 was created in 1968. Between 1901 and 2012, the Nobel Prizes and the Prize in
Economic Sciences were awarded 555 times to 856 people and organizations. With some receiving the
Nobel Prize more than once, this makes a total of 835 individuals and 21 organizations.

The Peace Prize is awarded in Oslo, Norway, while the other prizes are awarded in Stockholm, Sweden.
The Nobel Prize is widely regarded as the most prestigious award available in the fields of literature,
medicine, physics, chemistry, peace, and economics.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awards the Nobel Prize in Physics, the Nobel Prize in
Chemistry, and the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences; the Nobel Assembly at Karolinska
Institute awards the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine; the Swedish Academy grants the Nobel Prize
in Literature; and the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded not by a Swedish organization but by the Norwegian
Nobel Committee.

The various prizes are awarded yearly. Each recipient, or laureate, receives a gold medal, a diploma and a
sum of money, which is decided by the Nobel Foundation. As of 2012, each prize was worth 8 million
SEK (c. US$1.2 million, €0.93 million). The prize is not awarded posthumously; however, if a person is
awarded a prize and dies before receiving it, the prize may still be presented 6. Though the average number
of laureates per prize increased substantially during the 20th century, a prize may not be shared among
more than three people. [4]

Now let’s talk about the Award process of Nobel Prize. The award process is similar for all of the Nobel
Prizes; the main difference is in who can make nominations for each of them.

5
The Prize in Economics (as it is referred to by the Nobel Foundation) was established in 1968 and endowed by Sweden's
central bank, the SverigesRiksbank, on the occasion of the bank's 300th anniversary.
6
Montreal-born scientist dies before Nobel honor", CBC News 3 October 2011. Retrieved on 3 October 2011.

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Nominations

Nomination forms are sent by the Nobel Committee to about 3,000 individuals, usually in September the
year before the prizes are awarded. These individuals are often academics working in a relevant area. For
the Peace Prize, inquiries are sent to governments, members of international courts, professors and rectors,
former Peace Prize laureates and current or former members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee. The
deadline for the return of the nomination forms is 31 January of the year of the award.The Nobel
Committee nominates about 300 potential laureates from these forms and additional names.The nominees
are not publicly named, nor are they told that they are being considered for the prize. All nomination
records for a prize are sealed for 50 years from the awarding of the prize.

Selection

The Nobel Committee then prepares a report reflecting the advice of experts in the relevant fields. This,
along with the list of preliminary candidates, is submitted to the prize-awarding institutions7.The
institutions meet to choose the laureate or laureates in each field by a majority vote. Their decision, which
cannot be appealed, is announced immediately after the vote.A maximum of three laureates and two
different works may be selected per award. Except for the Peace Prize, which can be awarded to
institutions, the awards can only be given to individuals.If the Peace Prize is not awarded, the money is
split among the scientific prizes. This has happened 19 times so far.

Posthumous nominations

Although posthumous nominations are not permitted, individuals who die in the months between their
nomination and the decision of the prize committee were originally eligible to receive the prize. This has
occurred twice: the 1931 Literature Prize awarded to Erik Axel Karlfeldt, and the 1961 Peace Prize
awarded to UN Secretary General Dag Hammarskjöld. Since 1974, laureates must be thought alive at the
time of the October announcement. There has been one laureate, William Vickrey, who in 1996 died after
the prize (in Economics) was announced but before it could be presented8. On 3 October 2011, the
laureates for the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicinewere announced; however, the committee was not

7
"Nomination Facts”, Nobel Foundation.Archived from “the original” on 9 January 2010.Retrieved 3 March 2010.
8
Philip, Catherine (10 October 2009). "How the Nobel Peace Prize winner is decided". The Times (London: Times Newspapers
Limited). Retrieved on 25 May 2010.

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aware that one of the laureates, Ralph M. Steinman, had died three days earlier. The committee was
debating about Steinman's prize, since the rule is that the prize is not awarded posthumously.The
committee later decided that as the decision to award Steinman the prize "was made in good faith", it
would remain unchanged.

Some Facts about Nobel Prize

1.851 Laureates and 25 organizations have been awarded the Nobel Prize between 1901 and 2013. Of
them, 74 are Laureates in Economic Sciences. A small number of individuals and organizations have been
honored more than once, which means that 847 individuals and 22 unique organizations have received the
Nobel Prize in total.

2. Since the start, in 1901, there are some years when the Nobel Prizes have not been awarded. The total
numbers of times are 50, most of them during the World War I (1914-1918) and II (1939-1945). In the
statutes of the Nobel Foundation it says: "If none of the works under consideration is found to be of the
importance indicated in the first paragraph, the prize money shall be reserved until the following year. If,
even then, the prize cannot be awarded, the amount shall be added to the Foundation's restricted funds.

3. The most common fields for Physics Laureates is particle physics, for Chemistry Laureates it is
biochemistry, for Medicine Laureates it is genetics and for Laureates in Economic Sciences it is
Macroeconomics.

4. The average age of all Nobel Laureates in all prize categories between 1901 and 2013 is 59 years.

5. Between 1901 and 2013 the Nobel Prize and Prize in Economic Sciences have been awarded 45 times
to women.

6. Jean-Paul Sartre was awarded the 1964 Nobel Prize in Literature; he refused to accept it as he has
consistently declined all the official honors.Le DucTho, was awarded the 1973 Nobel Peace Prize jointly
with US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. They were awarded the Prize for negotiating the Vietnam
peace accord. Le Doc Tho said that he was not in a position to accept the Nobel Peace Prize, citing the
situation in Vietnam as his reason.

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7. Four Nobel Laureates have been forced by authorities to decline the Nobel Prize. Adolf Hitler forbade
three German Nobel Laureates, Richard Kuhn, Adolf Butenandt and Gerhard Domagk, from accepting the
Nobel Prize. All of them could later receive the Nobel Prize Diploma and Medal, but not the prize amount.
Boris Pasternak, the 1958 Nobel Laureate in Literature, initially accepted the Nobel Prize but was later
coerced by the authorities of the Soviet Union, his native country, to decline the Nobel Prize.

8.Three Nobel Laureates Have Been under Arrest at the Time of the Award:

German pacifist and journalist Carl von Ossietzky.

Burmese politician Aung San Suu Kyi.
Chinese human rights activist Liu Xiaobo.

[2] India’s position in winning the Nobel Prize

The Nobel Prizes, instituted in 1901, annually honor outstanding contributions to literature, world peace
and sciences. Here's a list of Indians or people of Indian origin who have won the Nobel Prize:

Ronald Ross

Ronald Ross, born in Almora, Uttarakhand, India, in 1857, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or
Medicine in 1902 for his work on malaria. He received many honors in addition to the Nobel Prize, and
was given Honorary Membership of learned societies of most countries of Europe, and of many other
continents. He got an honorary M.D. degree in Stockholm in 1910 at the centenary celebration of the
Caroline Institute. Whilst his vivacity and single-minded search for truth caused friction with some
people, he enjoyed a vast circle of friends in Europe, Asia and America who respected him for his
personality as well as for his genius.

Rudyard Kipling

Rudyard Kipling, born in Mumbai, 1865 (then Bombay in British India), was awarded the Nobel Prize in
Literature in 1907. He remains the youngest ever recipient of the Literature Nobel Prize and the first
English-language writer to receive the Prize. His literary career began with Departmental Ditties (1886),
but subsequently he became chiefly known as a writer of short stories. A prolific writer, he achieved fame
quickly. Kipling was the poet of the British Empire and its yeoman, the common soldier, whom he

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glorified in many of his works, in particular Plain Tales from the Hills (1888) and Soldiers Three (1888),
collections of short stories with roughly and affectionately drawn soldier portraits. In 1894 appeared his
Jungle Book, which became a children's classic all over the world. Kim (1901), the story of Kimball
O'Hara and his adventures in the Himalayas, is perhaps his most felicitous work. Other works include The
Second Jungle Book (1895), The Seven Seas (1896), Captains Courageous (1897), The Day's Work
(1898), Stalky and Co. (1899), Just So Stories (1902), Limits and Renewals (1932), Better Be Better than
Worst (1933). During the First World War Kipling wrote some propaganda books.

Rabindranath Tagore
Tagore remains one of the most important literary figures in India. It is close to 100 years ago that he won
the first ever Nobel Prize for India, but his poetry and prose are unparalleled. Tagore wrote and composed
the national anthem too. He was awarded the 1913 Nobel Prize in Literature for "Gitanjali," his book of
verse.

Abdus Salam
Born in undivided Punjab and a citizen of Pakistan, and shared a Nobel Prize in Physics in 1979, with
Steven Weinberg, for his work on electroweak unification, one of the important puzzles of modern
theoretical physics.

Sir C.V. Raman

C V Raman was born in Thiruvanaikkaval, Tamil Nadu. By 11, he had finished school and went on to
earn fame for his work in the field of molecular physics. He won the Nobel Prize for Physics for his
"RAMAN" effect in 1930.

Dr. Hargobind Khorana

Dr. Hargobind Khorana was born in Raipur, Punjab (now in Pakistan). Khorana was responsible for
producing the first man-made gene in a lab. This won him the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1968, which he
shared with Marshall Nuremberg and Robert Holley.

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Dr. SubrahmanyanChandrasekar
Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar was born in Lahore, India (later part of Pakistan). He was the nephew of
another Nobel winner, C. V. Raman. He won the Nobel Prize in 1983 for his work on stars and their
evolution.

Mother Teresa
Agnes GonxhaBojaxhiu was born in Skoplje, Yugoslavia (then Turkey). As Mother Teresa she spent a
lifetime helping the poor and the sick through the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta. She was awarded
the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1979.
Dr. Amartya Sen
Born in Bolpur, West Bengal; Amartya Sen won the Nobel for Economics in 1998 for his work in Welfare
economics.
V.S. Naipaul
Sir VidiadharSurajprasad Naipaul, a British writer of Indian origin who was born in Trinidad, was
awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2001.

VenkatramanRamakrishnan

Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, born in Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu, shared the 2009 Nobel Prize in
Chemistry as a US Citizen.

Other Nobel laureates with a connection to India

The 14th Dalai Lama, born 1935 in Tibet won the Nobel Prize for peace as "the religious and political
leader of the Tibetan people" in 1989. He has been residing in exile in India since 1959.

Muhammad Yunus, born 1940 in British India won the Nobel Prize for peace as a Bangladesh national in
2006.

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 Conclusion

Nobel Prize, an award about which every scientist, medical practitioner, biologist and various experts of
various fields always dream of having it sometime. Nobel Prize is considered the most prestigious award
in the world.Nobel Prize is a set of annual international awards bestowed in a number of categories by
Swedish and Norwegian committees in recognition of cultural and/or scientific advances. The will of the
Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel established the prizes in 1895.

Noble Prize has always been and always will be a very prestigious and shining medal of honor for those
who give the required and important knowledge to the world. Indians has also secured their position in
getting the Nobel Prize, as discussed in the paper. From the simple will of a genius, Nobel Prize has
attained the position of a legend today’s world.

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 References

1. http:/www.nobelprize.org.
2.

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