List of Nobel Prize Winners in 2024

List of Nobel Prizes – 2024

The Nobel Prizes are prestigious awards awarded annually to individuals and organisations for their achievements in various categories, including physiology, medicine, physics, chemistry, literature, peace, and the economic sciences. Twelve deserving personalities have received six awards this year.

The Nobel Peace Prize 2024:

The Nobel Prize in Physics 2024:

The Nobel Prize in Literature 2024:

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2024:

The Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences 2024:

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2024:

List of Nobel Laureates – 2024

The 2024 Nobel Prizes were awarded in several categories.

The Nobel Peace Prize went to Nihon Hidankyo, a Japanese group representing survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings that was recognised for its work to eliminate nuclear weapons. 

In 2024, six Nobel Prizes were awarded for contributions to humanity that have had the greatest benefit to mankind. The Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to Han Kang for her intense and poetic writing. 

In the other categories, the winners were honoured for their contributions to science and economics.  

The work and discoveries of the 12 laureates encompass topics ranging from electron dynamics to nanotechnology. Their work includes efforts to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons and the discovery of microRNA, which plays a role in post-transcriptional gene regulation.

Here is a complete breakdown of “The Nobel Prize winners – 2024”.

The Nobel Laureates in Peace 2024:

• Nihon Hidankyo was founded in 1956 by survivors of the 1945 atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, a group known as hibakusha (“bomb-affected people”)
• In 2024, this organisation was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize "for its efforts to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons" and "for demonstrating, through witness testimony, that nuclear weapons must never be used again."
• Before finally receiving the award in 2024, Nihon Hidankyo had been nominated for the Nobel Prize for Peace several times.  

The Nobel Laureates in Physics 2024:

John J. Hopfield 

• John J. Hopfield is an American physicist who won the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work with neural networks
• He shared the prize with Geoffrey Hinton, British-Canadian cognitive scientist, psychologist and computer scientist
• He received a Nobel Prize, at age 91, and he was the third-oldest person, after Arthur Ashkin (in physics in 2018, at age 96) and John B. Goodenough (in chemistry in 2019, at age 97) 
• In 1954, Hopfield received a bachelor’s degree in Physics at Swarthmore College
• After he received a Ph.D. in Physics from Cornell University, Hopfield joined AT&T Bell Laboratories, where he worked on solid-state physics research
• In 1964, he was a professor of physics at Princeton University. Later, John Hopfield shifted his research focus from physics to problems in chemistry and biology
• In 1980, Hopfield joined the California Institute of Technology as a professor of chemistry and biology
• Along with the Nobel Prize, Hopfield has received several prestigious awards and positions throughout his career. Some of these include:
  • In 2005, Albert Einstein Award of Science
  • In 1991, he was named California Scientist of the Year
  • In 1983, MacArthur grant
  • In 1969, American Physical Society presented the Buckley Prize for his work on light-emitting diodes (LEDs)

Geoffrey Hinton

• Geoffrey Hinton, a British-Canadian cognitive Psychologist and computer scientist, won the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics 
• Hinton shared the prize with American physicist John J. Hopfield
• Geoffrey Hinton was known as the “godfather of AI”. 
• He revolutionised the field of artificial intelligence with his work on neural network models. 
• He contributed significantly to the field of artificial intelligence with his work on:
  • Novel insights 
  • Boltzmann machines
  • Neural network models 
  • Time-delay neural networks
  • Distributed representations
  • Key discoveries in the areas of backpropagation
• Hinton's role in revolutionising AI has received extensive recognition. Among his numerous awards are:
  • In 2001, the Cognitive Science Society’s first-ever David E. Rumelhart Prize 
  • In 2010, the Gerhard Herzberg Canada Gold Medal
  • The country’s highest award for science and engineering. 

The Nobel Laureates in Literature 2024:

• Han Kang, the South Korean writer was the first South Korean author to win the Nobel Prize for Literature
• Han was known for her experimental fiction, intense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life and her works that address Humanity’s capacity for violence
• Han Kang began her career in 1993 as a poet and has written mainly novels and short stories. Han’s notable novels include":
  • The Vegetarian, 
  • Human Acts and 
  • We Do Not Part
• In 2018 Han was selected to contribute to the Future Library

The Nobel Laureates in Chemistry 2024:

David Baker

• David Baker is an American computational biologist and biochemist. He was awarded Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2024
• Baker shared his award with an American researcher John M. Jumper and English computer scientist Demis Hassabis for their breakthroughs in computational protein design
• In 1984 he earned a bachelor’s degree from Harvard and later joined the University of California, Berkeley, to study biochemistry. Here he researched systems of protein transport in yeast
• In 1989 he earned a Ph.D. and subsequently became a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, San Francisco, where his focus shifted to structural biology
• In 1993 he joined the faculty at the University of Washington and began to deeply investigate protein folding and how sequences of amino acids form the wide variety of protein shapes observed in cells
• Baker has received various awards throughout his career, in addition to the Nobel Prize
  • The International Society for Computational Biology awarded him the Overton Prize in 2002. 
  • In 2004 he received the Feynman Prize in nanotechnology from the Foresight Institute (shared with Brian Kuhlman). 
  • The prestigious Breakthrough Prize in life sciences recognised him in 2021, and the Wiley Prize in biomedical sciences followed that year.

Demis Hassabis 

• Demis Hassabis won the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work using artificial intelligence (AI) to predict protein structures
• Demis shared his award with David Baker an American Biochemist and computational biologist and American researcher John Jumper for their breakthroughs in computational protein design
• During the 1990s Hassabis studied Computer science at the University of Cambridge, where he captained the college’s chess team
• After graduating from Cambridge in 1997, Hassabis became the lead AI programmer at Lionhead Studios. In 2001, he assisted in the development of the Black & White game 
• In 1998 he went on to produce several award-winning AI-based video games, including Republic: The Revolution (2003) and Evil Genius (2004).
• Later in 2009, Hassabis completed Ph.D. in cognitive neuroscience at the University College London (UCL) and continues his postdoctoral work at Harvard University and 
• He completed his studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and was appointed as a Henry Wellcome fellow at UCL.

John Jumper

• John Jumper, an English chemist and computer scientist, won the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on “protein structure prediction".
• John shared his award with David Baker an American biochemist and computational biologist and Demis Hassabis, an American researcher for their breakthroughs in computational protein design
• Jumper has received various awards throughout his career, in addition to the Nobel Prize.
  • In 2022, he received the VinFuture Prize
  • In 2022, he received the Wiley Prize in Biomedical Sciences
  • In 2023, he received the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Biology and Biomedicine 
  • In 2023, he received the Canada Gairdner International Award and the Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award (2023, shared with Hassabis).

The Nobel Laureates in Economic Sciences 2024:

Daron Acemoglu:

• Daron Acemoglu, a Turkish-American economist of Armenian descent won the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his studies of how institutions are formed and affect prosperity
• By examining the various political and economic systems introduced by European colonists, Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson and James A. Robinson demonstrated a relationship between institutions and prosperity
• Additionally, they have created theoretical frameworks that elucidate the persistence of institutional differences and the potential for institutional transformation.

Simon Johnson:

• Simon Johnson, a British-American economist won the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his studies of how institutions are formed and affect prosperity
• Johnson has served as the Ronald A. Kurtz Professor of Entrepreneurship at the MIT Sloan School of Management since 2004. 

James A. Robinson:

• James A. Robinson, a British-American economist and political scientist, won the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his studies of how institutions are formed and affect prosperity.
• In 1982, Robinson received a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science, a Master of Arts from the University of Warwick in 1986, and a Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science from Yale University in 1993
• Robinson's main fields of research are political economy and comparative politics, as well as economic and political development.

The Nobel Laureates in Physiology or Medicine 2024:

Victor Ambros 

• Victor Ambros, an American developmental biologist and molecular geneticist, is best known for his pioneering work in the discovery of microRNA (miRNA), a small RNA molecule that serves essential functions in regulating gene expression. 
• Ambros’s work in discovering miRNA greatly changed how scientists understand how cells work and how genes are involved in diseases, making it especially important for molecular biology and developmental biology. 
• For his discoveries, he was awarded the 2024 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine (shared with American molecular biologist and geneticist Gary Ruvkun).
• Victor Ambros, has received numerous awards and honours throughout his career, including the Nobel Prize.
  • In 2008, The Lasker Award
  • In 2008, The Gairdner International Award
  • In 2014, The Wolf Prize 
  • In 2011, he was elected to the fellowship of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences 
  • In 2018, he was elected to the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Gary Ruvkun

• Gary Ruvkun, an American molecular Biologist and Geneticist renowned for his groundbreaking research on microRNA (miRNA) and RNA interference (RNAi), as well as for his work on ageing and longevity
• He was awarded the 2024 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine (shared with American developmental biologist and molecular geneticist Victor Ambros) for his contributions to the discovery of miRNA and its role in regulating gene activity
• In addition to being honoured with the Nobel Prize, Ruvkun has received many other awards throughout his career, including:
  • In 2004, the Lewis S. Rosenstiel Award for Distinguished Work in Basic Medical Research
  • In 2008, the Canada Gairdner International Award
  • In 2008, the Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research 
  • In 2014 Wolf Prize in Medicine
  • In 2008, Ruvkun was elected as a fellowship of the National Academy of Sciences 
  • In 2009, Ruvkun was elected as the fellowship of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

Timeline & Prize Details – 2024

Also Read: Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine