Nobel Prize 2013

Nobel Prize 2013
Field	Name	Topic
Peace	OPCW	Prohibition of Chemical Weapons
Medicine	James Rothman	Research on 'vesicle traffic'
	Randy Schekman
	Thomas Suedhof
Chemistry	Martin Karplus	Multiscale models for complex chemical systems
	Michael Levitt
	Arieh Warshel
Physics	Francois Englert	Work on the Boson or God's Particle
	Peter Higgs
Literature	Alice Munro	contributions in literature
Economics	Eugene Fama	Developing new methods to study trends in asset markets
	Lars Peter Hansen
	Robert Shiller

About

Nobel Prize was established by Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel. This prize is worth 8 million Swedish kronor ($1.2 million). The Peace Prize is awarded in Oslo, Norway, while the other prizes are awarded in Stockholm, Sweden. The winners are given awards on Dec. 10, the anniversary of Nobel’s death in 1896. Alfred Nobel established the prizes in 1895. Each recipient, or laureate, receives a gold medal, a diploma and a sum of money, which is decided by the Nobel Foundation. A prize may not be shared among more than three people.

Medicine (declared on October 7, 2013)

Two Americans James Rothman (Yale University) and Randy Schekman (University of California, Berkeley) and Thomas Suedhof (Stanford University) from Germany won Nobel Prize for Medicine for their research on 'vesicle traffic'. This transport system of our cells helped scientists to understand how 'cargo is delivered to the right place at the right time' inside cells. Dr. Rothman revealed how proteins dock with their target membranes like two sides of a zipper while Dr. Schekman discovered a set of genes that were required for vesicle transport. Dr. Suedhof found out how vesicles release their cargo with precision. Last year’s medicine award was given to Britain’s John Gurdon and Japan’s Shinya Yamanaka for their contributions to stem cell science.

Physics (declared on October 8, 2013)

Francois Englert of Belgium and Peter Higgs of Britain won it. They were given the prize for their work on the Boson (commonly known as the God's Particle), a particle that explains the existence of mass and holds the key to understanding the universe. Englert and Higgs developed their theories in the 1960s.

Chemistry (declared on October 9, 2013)

Nobel Prize for chemistry was given to Martin Karplus, Michael Levitt and Arieh Warshel for developing “multiscale models for complex chemical systems” that are used in computer programmes to predict chemical processes. Their research has helped scientists to develop programs that unveil chemical processes such as the purification of exhaust fumes or the photosynthesis in green leaves and  makes it possible to optimize catalysts for cars, drugs and solar cells.

Literature (declared on October 10, 2013)

Alice Munro, a writer from Canada won 2013 Nobel Prize for Literature. Ms. Munro is the first Canadian writer to receive the award since Saul Bellow, who left for the U.S. as a boy and won it in 1976.  Ms. Munro is the 13th female literature laureate in the 112-year history of the Nobel Prizes. Last year’s Nobel literature award went to Mo Yan of China.  

Peace (declared on October 11, 2013)

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, OPCW, won this year’s Nobel Peace Prize. OPCW was formed in 1997 to enforce the Chemical Weapons Convention, the first international treaty to outlaw an entire class of weapons. This organization is based in Hague, Netherlands. The organization has 189 member states.




Economics (declared on October 14, 2013)

Eugene Fama, Lars Peter Hansen and Robert Shiller won the Nobel prize for economics for developing new methods to study trends in asset markets. They had  laid the foundation of the current understanding of asset prices. Sweden’s central bank added the economics prize in 1968 as a memorial to Alfred Nobel.