The Nobel Prize season for this year kicked off on Monday with the Medicine Prize, followed by the Physics Prize on Tuesday, Chemistry on Wednesday, and Literature on Thursday. The 2022 Nobel Peace Prize will be announced on Friday and the Economics Prize on October 10.

These awards mean that new faces from all over the world will be added to the world’s elite list of scientists, writers, economists and human rights leaders.

Here are five information you should know about the six prestigious awards spotted by Russia Today:

Who created the Nobel Prizes?

The prizes in medicine, physics, chemistry, literature and peace arose from the will of Alfred Nobel, a wealthy Swedish industrialist and inventor of dynamite. The first prizes were awarded in 1901, five years after Nobel’s death.

Each prize is worth 10 million kronor (approximately $900,000) and will be handed out at a ceremony and will consist of a certificate and a gold medal on December 10, the date of Nobel’s death in 1896.

The Economics Prize – officially known as the “Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel”, was established not by Alfred Nobel, but by the Swedish Central Bank in 1968.

Between 1901 and 2021, the Nobel Prizes and the Prize in Economic Sciences were awarded 609 times.

Who knows who will win and why?

The Nobel Rules prohibit the panel of judges from revealing the details of their deliberations for the next 50 years. So it will likely be a while before we know for sure what the referees based their 2022 picks on, and who was on their shortlists.

The judges try hard to avoid dropping hints about the winners before the announcements, but some of the nominees are traded, and bookmakers in Europe sometimes offer the odds of the Peace Prize and Nobel Prize winners in literature.

Who can nominate someone for the award?

Thousands of people around the world are eligible to submit nominations for Nobel Prizes. They include university professors, lawmakers, former Nobel laureates, and members of the committee themselves.

Although nominations are kept secret for 50 years, those who submit them sometimes announce their proposals publicly, especially for the Nobel Peace Prize.

What is the relationship of the Swedish award to Norway?

The Nobel Peace Prize is presented in Norway, while the other prizes are handed out in Sweden, which is what Alfred Nobel wanted.

Although his exact reasons for this choice are unclear, during his lifetime Sweden and Norway joined in a union that was dissolved in 1905. Relations were at times strained between the Nobel Foundation in Stockholm, which administers the prize money, and the independent Peace Prize Committee in Oslo .

What does it take to win a Nobel Prize?

Scientists often wait decades for their work to be recognized by the Nobel judges, who want to make sure that any breakthrough stands the test of time.

This is somewhat a departure from Nobel’s will, which states that the prizes should be awarded to “those who, within the preceding year, would provide the greatest benefit to mankind”.

The Peace Prize Committee is the only one that regularly rewards achievements in the previous year.

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