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2026 Nobel Prize winners
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Nobel Prize medal Karl Deisseroth wearing a black tuxedo and bow tie, smiling at the camera with a blue and white event backdrop behind him. Peter Hegemann, wearing a suit and patterned tie, smiles while holding an open award certificate in both hands. Portrait of Professor Georg Nagel wearing a beige jacket, patterned shirt, and light tie, standing in front of a wooden wall with green plants in the background. Francis Halzen speaks at a podium, gesturing with one hand. Portrait of Professor Henri Boris Kagan wearing glasses, a dark jacket, striped tie, and light blue shirt. Professor Kenso Soai, wearing glasses and a suit, gestures with a pen while speaking at an event. Anne Carson sits onstage holding a microphone, wearing glasses, a dark pinstripe suit, and sneakers, speaking at The Shed arts center event in New York City. Portrait of Navanethem Navi Pillay smiling against a dark background, wearing hoop earrings and a red-and-white patterned top. Professor Robert E. Hall speaks at a microphone, wearing a dark suit and red tie before a Hoover Institution backdrop.
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Nobel Prize medal
Nobel Prize medal The obverse (left) and reverse sides of the medal awarded for both the Nobel Prize for Chemistry and the Nobel Prize for Physics.

2026 Nobel Prize winners

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The Nobel Prizes are among the most prestigious awards in the world. Only about 1,000 individuals can claim to be Nobel laureates. Notable past winners include Marie Curie, Albert Einstein, Nelson Mandela, and Bob Dylan. In 2026 another 10 laureates joined their ranks.

Physiology or Medicine

Karl Deisseroth wearing a black tuxedo and bow tie, smiling at the camera with a blue and white event backdrop behind him.
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Karl DeisserothKarl Deisseroth is an American psychiatrist and bioengineer best known for his development of methods that revolutionized the study of the brain. He shared the 2026 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine with German biochemist and biophysicist Peter Hegemann and German biophysicist Georg Nagel.
Peter Hegemann, wearing a suit and patterned tie, smiles while holding an open award certificate in both hands.
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Peter HegemannGerman biochemist and biophysicist Peter Hegemann contributed to the development of optogenetics. He shared the 2026 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine with American psychiatrist and bioengineer Karl Deisseroth and German biophysicist Georg Nagel.
Portrait of Professor Georg Nagel wearing a beige jacket, patterned shirt, and light tie, standing in front of a wooden wall with green plants in the background.
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Georg NagelGeorg Nagel is a German biophysicist known for his contributions to discoveries relating to light-sensitive proteins. He shared the 2026 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine with American psychiatrist and bioengineer Karl Deisseroth and German biochemist and biophysicist Peter Hegemann.

The 2026 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine was awarded to American psychiatrist and bioengineer Karl Deisseroth, German biochemist and biophysicist Peter Hegemann, and German biophysicist Georg Nagel by the Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institute on October 5, 2026. They won for their work on “discoveries concerning light-gated ion channels and optogenetics.”

Karl Deisseroth

  • Birth date: November 18, 1971, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
  • Education: Bachelor’s in biochemical sciences from Harvard University; doctorate in neuroscience and MD from Stanford University
  • Affiliation: D.H. Chen Professor of Bioengineering and professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University; Investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute

(Read Karl Deisseroth’s Britannica article on optogenetics)

Peter Hegemann

  • Birth date: December 11, 1954, Münster, Germany
  • Education: Graduate in chemistry from Ludwig Maximilian University; doctorate from Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry
  • Affiliation: Hertie Senior Professor of Neuroscience at Humboldt University of Berlin

Georg Nagel

  • Birth date: August 24, 1953, Weingarten, Germany.
  • Education: Studied biology and biophysics at the University of Konstanz; doctorate from University of Frankfurt
  • Affiliation: Professor of molecular plant physiology at University of Würzburg

Physics

Francis Halzen speaks at a podium, gesturing with one hand.
Francis HalzenHalzen's work focuses on the interface of particle physics, astrophysics, and cosmology. He received the 2026 Nobel Prize for Physics for his work on the IceCube Neutrino Observatory and the discovery of high-energy neutrinos from deep space.

The 2026 Nobel Prize for Physics was awarded to American physicist Francis Halzen by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences on October 6, 2026. He won “for decisive contributions to the IceCube Neutrino Observatory and the discovery of high-energy neutrinos of astrophysical origin.”

Francis Halzen

  • Birth date: March 23, 1944, Tienen, Belgium
  • Education: Master’s and doctorate degrees from KU-Leuven
  • Affiliation: Vilas Research Professor and Gregory Breit Professor at the University Wisconsin-Madison

Chemistry

Portrait of Professor Henri Boris Kagan wearing glasses, a dark jacket, striped tie, and light blue shirt.
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Henri B. KaganFrench chemist Henri B. Kagan shared the 2026 Nobel Prize for Chemistry with Japanese chemist Kenso Soai. In 1986 Kagan discovered a new way of manipulating chemical reactions.
Professor Kenso Soai, wearing glasses and a suit, gestures with a pen while speaking at an event.
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Kenso Soai Japanese chemist Kenso Soai shared the 2026 Nobel Prize for Chemistry with French chemist Henri B. Kagan. Soai pioneered elegant experiments on the origin of homochirality.

The 2026 Nobel Prize for Chemistry was awarded to French chemist Henri B. Kagan and Japanese chemist Kenso Soai by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences on October 7, 2026. They received the prize “for the discovery of non-linear effects and autocatalysis in asymmetric organic synthesis.”

Henri B. Kagan

  • Birth date: December 15, 1930, Boulogne-Billancourt, France
  • Education: Degree in chemical engineering from Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Chimie de Paris (now Chimie ParisTech – PSL) and doctorate from Collège de France
  • Affiliation: Professor Emeritus at the Université Paris-Sud

Kenso Soai

  • Birth: 1950, Hiroshima, Japan
  • Education: Graduate and doctorate from University of Tokyo
  • Affiliation: Professor Emeritus at the Tokyo University of Science

Literature

Anne Carson sits onstage holding a microphone, wearing glasses, a dark pinstripe suit, and sneakers, speaking at The Shed arts center event in New York City.
Anne CarsonCanadian poet and classicist Anne Carson won the 2026 Nobel Prize in Literature. She was recognized for her inventive body of work, which draws on classical literature to explore new forms of contemporary literary expression.

The 2026 Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to Canadian poet, classicist, essayist, and translator Anne Carson by the Swedish Academy on October 8, 2026. She won “for her bold and inventive oeuvre that, in playful dialogue with the classical tradition, has created new forms for contemporary literature.”

Anne Carson

  • Birth date: June 21, 1950, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
  • Notable books: Eros the Bittersweet (1986), Autobiography of Red: A Novel in Verse  (1998), Men in the Off Hours (2000), The Beauty of the Husband: A Fictional Essay in 29 Tangos (2001), Nox (2010; “Night”), If Not, Winter: Fragments of Sappho (2002), Norma Jeane Baker of Troy (2019), and Wrong Norma (2024).

Peace

Portrait of Navanethem Navi Pillay smiling against a dark background, wearing hoop earrings and a red-and-white patterned top.
Navi PillayNavi Pillay won the 2026 Nobel Prize for Peace. She has served as the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and as a judge on the International Criminal Court (ICC), among other roles.

The 2026 Nobel Prize for Peace was awarded to Navi Pillay by the Norwegian Nobel Committee on October 9, 2026. The South African jurist was cited “for her efforts to promote peace and international law” and commended for her attempts to preserve peace by ensuring that “war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide are prosecuted.”

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Navi Pillay

Economics

Professor Robert E. Hall speaks at a microphone, wearing a dark suit and red tie before a Hoover Institution backdrop.
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Robert E. HallThe 2026 Nobel Prize for Economics was shared by American economists Robert E. Hall (pictured here) and Michael Woodford. They have developed new macroeconomic models to inform policy decisions that can help reduce fluctuations in the economy.
Professor Michael Woodford smiling in front of bookshelves filled with economics and academic books.
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Michael WoodfordThe 2026 Nobel Prize for Economics was shared by American economists Michael Woodford (pictured here) and Robert E. Hall. They have developed new macroeconomic models to inform policy decisions that can help reduce fluctuations in the economy.

The 2026 Nobel Prize for Economics (the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel) was awarded to American economists Robert E. Hall and Michael Woodford on October 12, 2026, for “microeconomic foundations of macroeconomic stabilisation.”

Robert E. Hall

Michael Woodford

  • Birth date: 1955, Chicopee, Massachusetts, U.S.
  • Education: Bachelor’s degree from the University of Chicago; J.D. from Yale Law School; doctorate in economics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • Affiliation: John Bates Clark Professor of  Political Economy, Columbia University, New York

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The Editors of Encyclopaedia BritannicaThis article was most recently revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen.