Nobel Prizes
Nobel Prizes is a data page on the World Powers desk of Glassbox Auditing. Each country's Nobel laureates from the Nobel Foundation's record, counted by where the laureate was born and where their university or institute was at the award. The affiliation count shows where prize-level research is done, and the gap between the two counts shows how far scientists move.
Last updated: .
What is on this page today?
- The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2026: Michael Woodford and Robert E. Hall — for microeconomic foundations of macroeconomic stabilisation · Columbia University; Stanford University · born in USA (Nobel Foundation, 11 Oct 2026)
- United States leads the Nobel Prizes by birthplace: 309 of the 1,036 laureate awards since 1901 (30%) — Counted by where the laureate was born, or the organisation founded, in today's borders; a prize shared by three counts once for each laureate; United States added 43 since 2016 (Nobel Foundation, 11 Oct 2026)
- United States laureates won 33% of the Nobel Prizes of the 2020s so far, 32% in the 2010s — Share of each decade's laureate awards by birthplace or founding country; the 2020s run to 2026 (Nobel Foundation, 11 Oct 2026)
- 52% of the Nobel Prizes to laureates working in Switzerland went to people born elsewhere, the highest of the 6 leading host countries — 13 of 25 prizes with an affiliation on record there; the host countries are the 6 with the most affiliated prizes (20 or more with an affiliation on record) (Nobel Foundation, 11 Oct 2026)
- The Nobel Peace Prize 2026: Navi Pillay — for her efforts to promote peace and international law · born in South Africa (Nobel Foundation, 8 Oct 2026)
- The Nobel Prize in Literature 2026: Anne Carson — for her bold and inventive oeuvre that, in playful dialogue with the classical tradition, has created new forms for contemporary literature · born in Canada (Nobel Foundation, 7 Oct 2026)
- The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2026: Henri B. Kagan and Kenso Soai — for the discovery of non-linear effects and autocatalysis in asymmetric organic synthesis · Université Paris-Sud; Tokyo University of Science · born in France, Japan (Nobel Foundation, 6 Oct 2026)
- The Nobel Prize in Physics 2026: Francis Halzen — for decisive contributions to the IceCube Neutrino Observatory and the discovery of high-energy neutrinos of astrophysical origin · University of Wisconsin–Madison · born in Belgium (Nobel Foundation, 5 Oct 2026)
- The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2026: Georg Nagel, Karl Deisseroth and Peter Hegemann — for their discoveries concerning light-gated ion channels and optogenetics · University of Würzburg; Howard Hughes Medical Institute; Stanford University; Humboldt University of Berlin · born in Germany, USA (Nobel Foundation, 4 Oct 2026)
Where does the data come from?
Items on this page come from Nobel Foundation. Each item links to its own source. All sources, how items are checked.
What does this page lead to?
- Visas & Green Cards (Immigration): Many U.S.-affiliated laureates were born abroad; scientists usually come through graduate study and employment-based green cards, including the EB-1 route for extraordinary ability, which the Visas page counts. (either way, depending on the cause; years; global scale) Source: Nobel Prize Outreach, Nobel Prize Master Data API 2.0 (CC0).
- Universities (Education): Laureates are counted by the university they worked at when awarded; prize-winning faculty help universities win research grants and draw students. (moves the same way; years; sector scale) Source: Nobel Prize Outreach, Nobel Prize Master Data API 2.0 (CC0).
- Education Compared (Education): Science prizes reward work done decades earlier, so a country's laureate count reflects past research funding and universities that the education comparisons measure today. (either way, depending on the cause; decades; global scale) Source: Nobel Prize Outreach, Nobel Prize Master Data API 2.0 (CC0).
- Companies & Research (Education): Prize-winning work in medicine and chemistry often began on federal grants (NIH, NSF) and reached companies through licensing and spin-offs, as mRNA vaccines and CRISPR did. (moves the same way; years; sector scale) Source: NIH RePORTER (research grants by organisation).