2011 Nobel Prizes
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The 2011 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.{{Cite web |title=2011 Nobel Prize Winners Announced |url=https://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=121945&org=NSF |access-date=2024-12-10 |website=www.nsf.gov |language=English}}
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.{{Cite web |last=Royen |first=Ulrika |date=2013-06-01 |title=Video - The Nobel Prize Award Ceremony 2011 |url=https://www.nobelprize.org/ceremony/the-nobel-prize-award-ceremony-2011-2011/ |access-date=2024-12-10 |website=NobelPrize.org |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Royen |first=Ulrika |date=2013-06-01 |title=Video - The 2011 Nobel Peace Prize Award Ceremony |url=https://www.nobelprize.org/ceremony/the-2011-nobel-peace-prize-award-ceremony/ |access-date=2024-12-10 |website=NobelPrize.org |language=en-US}}
Prizes
= Physics =
| class="wikitable"
|+ ! colspan="5" |Awardee(s) |
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(b. 1959) |{{flagdeco|United States}} American | rowspan="3" |"for the discovery of the accelerating expansion of the Universe through observations of distant supernovae" | rowspan="3" |{{cite web |title=The Nobel Prize in Physics 2011 |url=http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2011/index.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120801221425/http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2011/index.html |archive-date=1 August 2012 |access-date=4 October 2011 |publisher=Nobel Foundation}} |
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(b. 1967) |{{flagdeco|Australia}} Australian |
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(b. 1969) |{{flagdeco|United States}} American |
= Chemistry =
| class="wikitable"
! colspan="5" |Awardee(s) |
| 112x112px
(b. 1941) |{{flagdeco|Israel}} Israeli {{flagdeco|United States}} American |"for the discovery of quasicrystals" |
= Physiology or Medicine =
= Literature =
{{Main page|2011 Nobel Prize in Literature}}
| class="wikitable"
! colspan="4" |Awardee(s) ! |
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(1931–2015) |{{flag|Sweden}} |"because, through his condensed, translucent images, he gives us fresh access to reality" |
= Peace =
{{Main page|2011 Nobel Peace Prize}}
| class="wikitable"
! colspan="5" |Awardee(s) |
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(born 1938) | rowspan="2" |{{Flag|Liberia}} | rowspan="3" |"for their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women's rights to full participation in peace-building work." |
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(born 1972) |
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(born 1979) |{{Flag|Yemen}} |
= Economic Sciences =
Controversies
= Physiology or Medicine =
Steinman passed away from cancer shortly before the awards ceremony, creating a technical complication for the Nobel Foundation regarding its policy of prohibiting posthumous awards. Ultimately, the committee ruled that Steinman's naming as a recipient prior to his death resolved the posthumous question.Stefanie Ilgenfritz (3 October 2011). [https://blogs.wsj.com/health/2011/10/03/a-posthumous-nobel-for-medicine/ "A Posthumous Nobel for Medicine?"] The Wall Street Journal.
Over 20 immunologists, in an open letter published in Nature, applauded the foundation's recognition of "the field of innate immunity" but lamented the lack of acknowledgement for scientists Charles Janeway and Ruslan Medzhitov whose discoveries constituted a "Nobel-standard breakthrough" in regards to said field.{{Cite journal |last1=Allison |first1=James P. |last2=Benoist |first2=Christophe |last3=Chervonsky |first3=Alexander V. |date=2011 |title=Nobels: Toll pioneers deserve recognition |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/479178a |journal=Nature |language=en |volume=479 |issue=7372 |pages=178 |doi=10.1038/479178a |pmid=22071753 |bibcode=2011Natur.479..178A |issn=1476-4687}}
Hoffman's awarding was questioned by Bruce Lemaitre, a scientist who worked in Hoffman's lab in the nineties during the course of Hoffman's immunology research. On a website launched after the award's announcement, Lemaitre claimed that he himself did much of the work on immunity while Hoffman was originally uninterested in his project and later "inappropriately" took credit for it as a group effort.{{Cite web |title=Nobel Prize for Immunologists Provokes Yet Another Debate |url=https://www.science.org/content/article/nobel-prize-immunologists-provokes-yet-another-debate#:~:text=Once%20again,%20the%202011%20Nobel,was%20done%20in%20the%201990s. |access-date=2024-12-10 |website=www.science.org |language=en}}
= Peace =
Many questioned Sirleaf's awarding of the Peace Prize, pointing to her record as a head of state involving violent and corrupt leadership, as well as her past affiliation to Charles Taylor prior to her tenure as president.{{Cite web |date=2011-10-06 |title=Liberia's 'Iron Lady' Peace Prize Stirs Controversy |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/liberias-iron-lady-peace-prize-stirs-controversy-131329469/146288.html |access-date=2024-12-10 |website=Voice of America |language=en}} Fellow laureate, Gbowee, also criticized Sirleaf's administration on similar lines.{{Cite news |last=Allison |first=Simon |date=2012-10-10 |title=Fellow Nobel peace prize winner criticises Ellen Johnson Sirleaf |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/oct/10/former-ally-ellen-johnson-sirleaf |access-date=2024-12-10 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}} However, others pushed back against said criticisms, stating that her advocacy of women's rights in Liberia has still been groundbreaking and influential.{{Cite web |last=Cheng |first=Christine |title=Sirleaf: A controversial laureate? |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2011/10/12/sirleaf-a-controversial-laureate |access-date=2024-12-10 |website=Al Jazeera |language=en}}