The Nobel Prize in Chemistry Explained

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One of the Original Five Prizes

Established directly by Alfred Nobel's 1895 will, the chemistry prize has been awarded since 1901, making it one of the original five Nobel Prize categories alongside physics, medicine, literature, and peace.

How Laureates Are Selected

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the same body that selects the physics laureates, is responsible for reviewing nominations submitted by qualified experts worldwide and selecting the chemistry prize winner each year.

A Prize That Often Crosses Into Other Fields

Because modern chemistry research frequently overlaps significantly with biology and physics, the chemistry prize is often awarded for work that could arguably also fit within those other Nobel categories, sometimes generating public debate about the classification.

People Who Won Multiple Times or Multiple Prizes

A small number of individuals have won the chemistry prize more than once, and others, like Marie Curie, have won the chemistry prize in addition to a prize in a different category.

Notable Laureates

Past chemistry laureates include Marie Curie for her research on radioactivity, Dorothy Hodgkin for determining the structures of important biomolecules, and more recently, researchers behind the development of CRISPR gene-editing technology.

Why chemistry prizes often reward biology-adjacent research

A significant number of recent chemistry laureates have been recognized for research more commonly associated with biology, such as protein structure and gene editing, reflecting how molecular-level biological research is fundamentally chemical in nature — a pattern often noted with interest by both scientists and outside observers.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many people can share the chemistry prize in a single year?

Under Nobel Foundation rules, a prize can be shared among a maximum of three living individuals in any given year, and it cannot be awarded posthumously except in rare, specific circumstances.

Has anyone ever won the chemistry prize twice?

Yes, though extremely rarely — Frederick Sanger is one of only a handful of people in Nobel Prize history to win the same category twice, having received the chemistry prize in both 1958 and 1980 for separate achievements.