List of Australian Nobel laureates

Since 1915 there have been fifteen Australians awarded the Nobel Prize. ^[1] Almost half of these prizes (eight) have been awarded in the field of Physiology or Medicine ^[2] Most Australians awarded Nobel prizes before the end of the awarding of British/Imperial honours (in 1992) also received (or were offered) knighthoods.

This list includes laureates who were not born in Australia, but who nevertheless spent a significant portion of their training or career there.

In 2017, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, which was launched in Australia, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Australian Nobel laureates

Year	Image	Laureate	Field	Life	Citation
2011		Brian P. Schmidt	Physics	1967–	"for the discovery of the accelerating expansion of the Universe through observations of distant supernovae" shared with Saul Perlmutter and Adam G. Riess [3]
2009		Elizabeth Blackburn	Physiology or Medicine	1948–	"for the discovery of how chromosomes are protected by telomeres and the enzyme telomerase" shared with Carol W. Greider and Jack W. Szostak [4]
2005		Barry J. Marshall	Physiology or Medicine	1951–	"for their discovery of the bacterium Helicobacter pylori and its role in gastritis and peptic ulcer disease" shared with J. Robin Warren [5]
2005		J. Robin Warren	Physiology or Medicine	1937–2024	"for their discovery of the bacterium Helicobacter pylori and its role in gastritis and peptic ulcer disease" shared with Barry J. Marshall [6]
2003		J. M. Coetzee	Literature	1940–	"who in innumerable guises portrays the surprising involvement of the outsider" [7]
1996		Peter C. Doherty	Physiology or Medicine	1940–	"for their discoveries concerning the specificity of the cell mediated immune defence" shared with Rolf M. Zinkernagel [8]
1996		Rolf M. Zinkernagel	Physiology or Medicine	1944–	"for their discoveries concerning the specificity of the cell mediated immune defence" shared with Peter C. Doherty [8]
1994		John Harsanyi	Economics	1920–2000	"for pioneering analysis of equilibria in the theory of non-cooperative games." [9]
1975		Sir John Cornforth	Chemistry	1917–2013	"for his work on the stereochemistry of enzyme-catalyzed reactions" shared with Vladimir Prelog [10]
1973		Patrick White	Literature	1912–1990	"for an epic and psychological narrative art which has introduced a new continent into literature" [11]
1970		Sir Bernard Katz	Physiology or Medicine	1911–2003	"for their discoveries concerning the humoral transmittors in the nerve terminals and the mechanism for their storage, release and inactivation" shared with Ulf von Euler and Julius Axelrod [12]
1964		Alexander M. Prokhorov	Physics	1916–2002	"for fundamental work in the field of quantum electronics, which has led to the construction of oscillators and amplifiers based on the maser-laser principle" shared with Charles H. Townes and Nicolay G. Basov [13]
1963		Sir John Carew Eccles	Physiology or Medicine	1903–1997	"for their discoveries concerning the ionic mechanisms involved in excitation and inhibition in the peripheral and central portions of the nerve cell membrane" shared with Alan L. Hodgkin and Andrew F. Huxley [14]
1960		Sir Frank Macfarlane Burnet	Physiology or Medicine	1899–1985	"for discovery of acquired immunological tolerance" shared with Peter Medawar [15]
1945		Howard Florey	Physiology or Medicine	1898–1968	"for the discovery of penicillin and its curative effect in various infectious diseases" shared with Alexander Fleming and Ernst B. Chain [16]
1915		Sir William Henry Bragg	Physics	1862–1942	"for their services in the analysis of crystal structure by means of X-rays" shared with William Lawrence Bragg [17]
1915		Sir William Lawrence Bragg	Physics	1890–1971	"for their services in the analysis of crystal structure by means of X-rays" shared with William Henry Bragg [18]

Australian laureates by birthplace

Schmidt

Blackburn

Marshall

Eccles

Coetzee

Doherty

Harsanyi

Cornforth

White

Katz

Prokhorov

Burnet

W. H. Bragg

W. L.
Bragg,
Florey,
Warren

.2

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Birthplaces of Australian Nobel laureates

References

1. "Australia's Nobel Prize winners". Australian Geographic. 3 August 2015. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
2. "Nobel Prize Facts". Archived from the original on 1 September 2012. Retrieved 7 September 2012.
3. "Brian P. Schmidt - Biographical". www.nobelprize.org. Archived from the original on 5 October 2011.
4. "Elizabeth H. Blackburn - Biographical". www.nobelprize.org. Archived from the original on 6 June 2010.
5. "Barry J. Marshall - Autobiography". www.nobelprize.org. Archived from the original on 8 June 2010.
6. "J. Robin Warren - Autobiography". www.nobelprize.org. Archived from the original on 8 June 2010.
7. "Literature 2003". www.nobelprize.org. Archived from the original on 11 July 2006.
8. "Peter C. Doherty - Autobiography". www.nobelprize.org. Archived from the original on 9 June 2010.
9. "Professor John Harsanyi | Australian National University". www.anu.edu.au. 29 October 2014. Retrieved 10 February 2025.
10. "John Cornforth - Autobiography". www.nobelprize.org. Archived from the original on 9 June 2010.
11. "Patrick White - Autobiography". www.nobelprize.org. Archived from the original on 9 June 2010.
12. "Sir Bernard Katz - Biography". www.nobelprize.org. Archived from the original on 9 June 2010.
13. "The Nobel Prize in Physics 1964".
14. "Sir John Eccles - Biography". www.nobelprize.org. Archived from the original on 9 June 2010.
15. "Sir Frank MacFarlane Burnet - Biography". www.nobelprize.org. Archived from the original on 9 June 2010.
16. "Sir Frank MacFarlane Burnet - Biography". www.nobelprize.org. Archived from the original on 9 June 2010.
17. "William Bragg - Biography". www.nobelprize.org. Archived from the original on 6 June 2010.
18. "Lawrence Bragg - Biography". www.nobelprize.org. Archived from the original on 6 June 2010.

External links

• All Nobel Laureates from the Nobel Foundation
• The White Hat Guide to Australian Nobel Prize Winners