Scotch College

A Scotch presence at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences

The announcement of the 2007 Nobel Prizes during October focused attention once more on these most prestigious of awards for excellence in five fields of human endeavour.

How are the awards made? Old Boy Richard Reyment (’44), now a resident of Sollentuna, near Stockholm in Sweden, has been a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences – the body which selects two of the Nobel Laureates – for 34 years, and provided Great Scot with some insights into the awards process.

‘There are five prizes in all,’ Richard told Great Scot. ‘They are for physics, chemistry, medicine, literature and peace.

‘The laureates for chemistry and physics are selected by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Medicine is the province of the Carolinian Institute for Medicine, literature is chosen by the Swedish Academy, and peace is awarded by the Norwegian parliament.

‘When Alfred Nobel instituted his prizes, Norway and Sweden were unified. The union was dissolved shortly after Nobel’s death, but the awarding body is still Norwegian.

‘There is a prize for economic sciences, awarded to honour Alfred Nobel’s memory, which was instituted by the Swedish National Bank. The Academy of Sciences only reluctantly agreed to take over this award, because it has grave doubts about the intellectual level involved in economics, in relation to that involved in physics and chemistry.

‘These doubts persist, and for this reason the economics prize is not awarded in the same connection as physics and chemistry. Although the Academy makes it quite clear that Economics is NOT a Nobel Prize, it has been nigh on impossible for the media to understand this.

‘The Academy also selects laureates for the Crafoord Prize. This prize is relatively new, and money-wise it amounts to about half that attaching to a Nobel Prize – but of course it carries nothing like the prestige of the Nobel. The prize rotates between three categories – geosciences, biological sciences and mathematics, so that once every three years one of these fields is honoured. Decisions on award winners are made in the same manner as the Nobel Prizes.’

On that note, Great Scot asked Richard how nominations are made, and about the award-making procedure at the Academy.

‘Each year, hundreds of requests for candidates are sent out to places of learning. The 2007 prizes were decided on the basis of proposals received before 2007.

‘There are two Nobel committees, one for chemistry and one for physics. These bodies settle on a subject area of special interest. The best-merited proposals are then submitted to a selected international board of experts in the relevant field for analysis. The results form the basis of choice of a laureate, and the prizes can be awarded to one, two or – at the most – three people.

‘Particular attention is paid to lobbying – this is largely a North American practice. But instead of helping a hoped-for North American candidate, this lobbying actually works negatively.

‘All members of the Academy are entitled to propose a name for consideration, although I have used this right only once in my 34 years in the Academy. All Academy fellows are expected to vote.

‘Obviously, the Nobel Prize awards place Sweden in a class of its own in the recognition of international scientific achievement.

‘Finally, it’s important to note that the Academy of Sciences is not a government body in any sense. It holds itself aloof from political machinations, much to the annoyance of some politicians!’ GS