Ever wondered why there isn't a Nobel Prize for Math? Or why your favorite architect hasn't snagged one for "Best Building"? It’s a bit of a weird setup. If you’re just looking for a quick number, here it is: there are six Nobel Prize categories awarded every year.
But honestly, the answer is kind of a "yes and no" situation depending on who you ask and how much of a history buff they are.
If you go back to the original source—Alfred Nobel’s actual will from 1895—the number was five. He wanted to reward people who did the "greatest benefit to humankind" in very specific areas. Then, about 70 years later, a bank stepped in and things got a little more complicated.
The Core Five: What Alfred Actually Wanted
Alfred Nobel was a complicated guy. He invented dynamite, made a massive fortune in armaments, and then apparently had a "wait, am I the bad guy?" moment after reading a premature obituary that called him the "merchant of death." To fix his legacy, he left 94% of his wealth to fund prizes in these original five categories:
- Physics (Because he was an inventor at heart).
- Chemistry (His literal bread and butter).
- Physiology or Medicine (To keep us all alive).
- Literature (He actually wrote plays and poems in his spare time).
- Peace (The big one to offset the whole dynamite thing).
These started being handed out in 1901. For decades, that was it. That was the list. If you did something amazing in biology or psychology, you basically had to hope it looked enough like "Medicine" to count.
The "Sixth" Prize: The Economics Plot Twist
So, why do we say there are six today? In 1968, Sweden’s central bank, Sveriges Riksbank, celebrated its 300th anniversary by donating a huge chunk of money to the Nobel Foundation to create a new prize.
Its official name is a mouthful: The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel.
Notice it doesn't just say "The Nobel Prize in Economics."
Because it wasn’t in the original will, some purists—including some of Nobel’s own descendants—get kinda annoyed when people call it a Nobel Prize. They feel like it's a "PR coup" for economists to get the same prestige as physicists or peace activists. But for all practical purposes, it’s treated exactly the same. The winners (laureates) get their medals from the King of Sweden, they get the same prize money (about 11 million SEK or roughly $1 million USD), and it’s announced right alongside the others every October.
How the Winners Are Picked (It’s Not Just One Group)
You might think there’s one giant board of "Smart People" deciding everything. Nope. It’s split up among different institutions to keep things specialized.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences handles Physics, Chemistry, and the Economics prize. They’re basically the gatekeepers of the hard sciences.
The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet takes care of Physiology or Medicine. They’re based at a world-class medical university in Stockholm.
The Swedish Academy picks the Literature winner. This group has had its fair share of drama lately, but they remain the authority on who’s writing the most "idealistic" and impactful books.
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Lastly, the Norwegian Nobel Committee decides the Peace Prize. Why Norway? Well, when Alfred Nobel was alive, Sweden and Norway were in a union. He specifically asked for a committee appointed by the Norwegian Parliament to handle this one. To this day, the Peace Prize is awarded in Oslo, while all the others are given out in Stockholm.
Common Misconceptions About the Categories
One big thing people get wrong: they think there’s a prize for "Science" generally. There isn't. If you’re a world-leading geologist or a brilliant astronomer, you usually have to find a way to fit your work into the "Physics" or "Chemistry" box.
And then there's the Math thing.
Legend says Alfred Nobel skipped Math because his mistress had an affair with a famous mathematician named Gösta Mittag-Leffler. It's a juicy story, but historians basically agree it’s fake. Most likely, Nobel just didn’t think Math was a "practical" science that benefited humanity in the same immediate way as medicine or peace. Nowadays, mathematicians have the Fields Medal or the Abel Prize, which are basically their versions of a Nobel.
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What Do the Laureates Actually Get?
If you manage to win in one of these six categories, you don't just get a pat on the back.
- A Gold Medal: It’s made of 18-carat green gold and then plated with 24-carat gold. It’s heavy.
- A Diploma: Each one is a unique work of art, hand-painted and customized for the winner.
- The Money: As of 2026, the prize is roughly 11 million Swedish krona. If three people share the prize (the maximum allowed), they split that cash.
Why This Matters to You
Knowing the categories helps you understand how the world defines "success" at the highest level. If you're following the news in October, you'll see these six categories dominate the headlines.
Actionable Next Steps:
- Check the Archive: Go to NobelPrize.org and look up the 2025 winners. It’s a great way to see what the cutting edge of human knowledge looks like right now.
- Watch the Ceremonies: The awards are always given on December 10th (the anniversary of Nobel's death). The lectures given by the winners are often surprisingly readable and deeply moving.
- Follow the "Ig Nobels": If the real prizes are too serious for you, look up the Ig Nobel Prizes. They reward research that "first makes people laugh, then makes them think"—like the study on why belly button lint is usually blue.
The Nobel system isn't perfect, and having only six categories definitely leaves out some important fields, but it remains the most prestigious club on the planet. Whether you're a fan of the Economics addition or a "Core Five" traditionalist, these prizes are the ultimate snapshot of what we, as humans, think is worth celebrating.