2016 Nobel Prizes

The 2016 Nobel Prizes were awarded by the Nobel Foundation, based in Sweden. Six categories were awarded: Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, Peace, and Economic Sciences. ^[1]

Nobel Week took place from December 6 to 12, including programming such as lectures, dialogues, and discussions. The award ceremony and banquet for the Peace Prize were scheduled in Oslo on December 10, while the award ceremony and banquet for all other categories were scheduled for the same day in Stockholm. ^{[2] [3]}

Prizes

Physics

Awardee(s)
	David J. Thouless (1934–2019)	British	"for theoretical discoveries of topological phase transitions and topological phases of matter"	[4]
	Duncan Haldane (b. 1951)
	John M. Kosterlitz (b. 1943)	British American

Chemistry

Awardee(s)
	Jean-Pierre Sauvage (b. 1944)	French	"for the design and synthesis of molecular machines"	[5]
	Fraser Stoddart (1942-2024)	British American
	Ben Feringa (b. 1951)	Dutch

Physiology or Medicine

Awardee(s)
	Yoshinori Ohsumi (b. 1945)	Japan	"for his discoveries of mechanisms for autophagy"	[6]

Literature

Main article: 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature

Awardee(s)
	Bob Dylan (b. 1941)	United States	"for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition"	[7]

Peace

Main article: 2016 Nobel Peace Prize

Awardee(s)
	Juan Manuel Santos (born 1951)	Colombia	"for his resolute efforts to bring the country's more than 50-year-long civil war to an end."	[8]

Economic Sciences

Awardee(s)
	Oliver Hart (b. 1948)	British American	“for his contributions to contract theory”	[9]
	Bengt Holmström (b. 1949)	Finland	“for his contributions to contract theory”	[9]

Controversies

Literature

Dylan's award for the Literature Prize was questioned; some stated that it was done out of Dylan's popularity rather than any virtuosic quality about his work, while others found that giving the award to a songwriter-musician diminished its reputation. ^[10] Karl Ove Knausgård told The Guardian : "I'm very divided. I love that the Nobel committee opens up for other kinds of literature—lyrics and so on. I think that's brilliant. But knowing that Dylan is the same generation as Thomas Pynchon, Philip Roth, Cormac McCarthy, makes it very difficult for me to accept it." ^[11]

References

1. Bryner, Jeanna (2016-10-13). "Nobel Prize 2016: Here Are the Winners (and What They Achieved)". livescience.com. Retrieved 2024-12-09.
2. "Video - The Nobel Prize Award Ceremony 2016". NobelPrize.org. 2017-01-23. Retrieved 2024-12-09.
3. "The Nobel Peace Prize 2016". NobelPrize.org. Retrieved 2024-12-09.
4. "The Nobel Prize in Physics 2016". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 5 April 2024. Retrieved 4 October 2016.
5. "The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2016". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 5 October 2016. Retrieved 5 October 2016.
6. "The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2016". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 3 October 2016. Retrieved 3 October 2016.
7. "Nobel Prize in Literature 2016" (PDF). Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-09-20. Retrieved 13 October 2016.
8. "The Nobel Peace Prize 2016". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 2016-10-07. Retrieved 2022-03-02.
9. "The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2016". Nobel Foundation. Retrieved 2016-10-06.
10. "Don't think twice, it's all right: Bob Dylan wins Nobel Lit". Yahoo! News. Associated Press. 13 October 2016. Archived from the original on 13 October 2016. Retrieved 13 October 2016.
11. "Karl Ove Knausgaard webchat – your questions answered on self-loathing, love and Jürgen Klopp". The Guardian. 17 October 2016.