Chemistry World goes behind closed doors to find out how the Nobel committee make their selection. Our guide on this voyage of discovery is Bengt Norden, chair professor of physical chemistry of Chalmers University of Technology. Norden was a member of the Nobel committee for chemistry – the body responsible for recommending potential laureates – from 1995 to 2004, and counts a great number of Nobel laureates amongst his personal friends. 

Standout winners and non-winners

‘I knew him very well. He was as a very intelligent man, but it’s a very complex case’

In our last video, we ask Bengt if there is anyone he regrets didn’t win the Nobel Prize, and are there any standout recipients? We also ask him why the Nobel was never awarded to the discoverer of the contraceptive pill, Carl Djerassi?

This video was recorded in 2015. Sadly, Ahmed Zewail died in August, 2016.

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How to win the Nobel prize part 1: criteria