It’s that time of the year again, when the most prestigious and coveted awards in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, and Peace are given by the Norwegian Committee according to the parameters set by the 1895 will and estate of Swedish chemist and inventor Alfred Nobel. The Nobel Prizes in the specific disciplines (Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, and Literature) and the Prize in Economics, which is commonly identified with them, are widely regarded as the most prestigious award one can receive in those fields. The Nobel Peace Prize conveys social prestige and is often
politically controversial.

For 2009, the prizes in Physiology or Medicine have been announced and it went to Elizabeth H. Blackburn of the University of California, San Francisco, Carol W. Greider of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, MD and Jack W. Szostak from the Harvard Medical School and the Massachusetts General Hospital. Likewise, the prize for Physics has also been announced: Charles K. Kao of Standard Telecommunication Laboratories, and to Willard S. Boyle and George E. Smith of Bell Laboratories. The awardee for this year’s Chemistry prize will be announced anytime now while that for Literature will be announced tomorrow. But the most anticiapted Nobel prize each year is that for Peace.

According to Nobel’s will, the Peace Prize should be awarded “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 selection of Nobel Peace Prize winners sometimes causes controversy, as it has become greatly politicized and not related to issues of peace and the list of winners includes people who formerly used violence and terrorism, but then later made exceptional concessions to non-violence in the attempt to achieve peace. For 2009, who will be the winner? No one has a clue except the men and women tasked to deliberate on who will get it.


UPDATE: President Barack Obama wins Nobel Peace Prize 2009

The Nobel Peace Prize 2009 winner will be announced on Friday. Watch the live stream of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize winner’s announcement HERE. The live web cast from the Norwegian Nobel Institute, Oslo, Norway, will be on Friday, October 9, 11:00 a.m. CET, 09:00 a.m. GMT (link will be not active until 30 minutes before announcement time). Be among the first to know who this year’s laureate will be.

NOTE: The same live stream link is where you can watch the announcements for Chemistry, Literature and Economics.

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