2011 Nobel Prize Winners

The 2011 Nobel Prize winners have been announced in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. Each recipient, or laureate, has a gold medal, a diploma, and a sum of money depending on the Nobel Foundation's income of the year.

The Nobel Prize in Physics 2011

The Nobel Prize winners in physics 2011 include Saul Perlmutter, who received a half of the prize, and Brian P. Schmidt and Adam G. Riess, who were awarded the other half, “for the discovery of the accelerating expansion of the Universe through observations of distant supernovae.”

From left to right, Adam Riess, Brian Schmidt and Saul Perlmutter

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2011

Dan Shechtman of Israel was honored the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2011 “for the discovery of quasicrystals.” He is the professor of Materials Science at Iowa State University.

Shechtman plays with his grandson during the press conference at the Technion Institute of Technology

Shechtman is seen during a news conference at the Haifa Technion in Israel

A silver/aluminium quasicrystal of the type discovered by Nobel prizewinner Daniel Shechtman

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2011

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2011 was divided into two parts, one half to Ralph M. Steinman, who died three days after the prize announcement, “for his discovery of the dendritic cell and its role in adaptive immunity,” and the other half jointly to Bruce A. Beutler and Jules A. Hoffmann “for their discoveries concerning the activation of innate immunity.”

From left to right: Bruce A. Beutler, Jules A. Hoffmann and Ralph M. Steinman

The Nobel Prize in Literature 2011

Nobel Prize in Literature 2011 was awarded to 80-year-old Swedish Tomas Tranströmer “because, through his condensed, translucent images, he gives us fresh access to reality.” He received the £942,000 prize.

In his parallel careers as psychologist and poet, Tomas Tranströmer has worked with the disabled, convicts and drug addicts

Nobel Peace Prize 2011

The Women's Activists Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Leymah Gbowee and Tawakul Karman were honored the Nobel Peace Prize 2011. “The award was a victory for Yemen's democracy activists and they would not give up until they had won full rights in a "democratic, modern Yemen,” Karman said.