The Diplomatic Council extends its warmest congratulations to this year’s Nobel laureates. Whether in the laboratory, at the writing desk or in the courtroom, their achievements show just how far curiosity, persistence and courage can take us – and how much they can do to help us understand our world and make it a fairer place.
The 2026 laureates
Physiology or Medicine
- Karl Deisseroth (Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Stanford University, USA)
- Peter Hegemann (Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany)
- Georg Nagel (University of Würzburg, Germany)
The three share the prize for their discoveries concerning light-gated ion channels and optogenetics. Put simply, their work made it possible to switch individual nerve cells in a living brain on and off using light. Laboratories around the world now use the technique to unpick how memories, emotions and behaviour arise – opening new ways of understanding disorders of the brain.
Physics
- Francis Halzen (University of Wisconsin–Madison, USA; born in Belgium)
Francis Halzen is honoured for his decisive contributions to the IceCube Neutrino Observatory and the discovery of high-energy neutrinos from deep space. It was his insight that the Antarctic ice could serve as a vast detector: a cubic kilometre of it, fitted with light sensors, now captures these elusive particles. They carry tell-tale clues about some of the most violent, energetic events in the universe.
Chemistry
- Henri B. Kagan (Université Paris-Sud, France)
- Kenso Soai (Tokyo University of Science, Japan)
The prize recognises their discovery of non-linear effects and autocatalysis in asymmetric organic synthesis. Many molecules, amino acids among them, come in two mirror-image forms, yet living things use only one. Kagan and Soai showed how chemical reactions can come to favour one form and then reinforce it, shedding light on one of chemistry’s long-standing puzzles.
Literature
- Anne Carson (Canada)
The Canadian writer is celebrated “for her bold and inventive oeuvre that, in playful dialogue with the classical tradition, has created new forms for contemporary literature”. Poet, translator and teacher, Carson often begins with the history of a single word, and from there breathes new life into ancient material in ways that feel strikingly modern.
Peace
- Navanethem “Navi” Pillay (South Africa)
Navi Pillay receives the Peace Prize for her efforts to promote peace and international law. Through landmark international cases, the South African jurist has demonstrated that the law can help prevent war and violence, and she has helped strengthen the institutions on which international justice depends. The Norwegian Nobel Committee highlights her independence, expertise and steadfastness – qualities that resonate strongly with the values of the United Nations.
Economic Sciences (Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel)
- Robert E. Hall (Stanford University, USA)
- Michael Woodford (Columbia University, USA)
Hall and Woodford are recognised for the microeconomic foundations of macroeconomic stabilisation. In plain terms, their research helps explain when and how governments and central banks should stimulate or cool the economy to avoid prolonged recessions or runaway inflation. The New Keynesian models that grew out of their work are now standard tools for central banks and finance ministries worldwide.
Independence: the bedrock of credibility
The Nobel Prizes have commanded worldwide respect for well over a century, and for good reason. The awarding bodies – the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet, the Swedish Academy and, for the Peace Prize, the Norwegian Nobel Committee – reach their decisions independently.
Free from political or commercial pressure, they judge on merit alone and on the benefit a contribution brings to humankind. It is precisely this independence that gives the prizes their credibility. For the Diplomatic Council, committed as it is to dialogue and understanding between nations, that is an example worth following: trust is earned where judgements are made impartially, transparently and without undue influence.
We wish all of this year’s laureates every continued success in their work.
