Guess how many women have won the Nobel Prize in 122 years
Katalin Kariko, a Hungarian-American biochemist, is the newest laureate to join the small group of women who have won the prestigious Nobel Prize.
Kariko shared the medicine Nobel with her colleague Drew Weissman in recognition of their “discoveries concerning nucleoside base modification that enabled the development of effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19”.
In 122 years, from 1901 to 2023, the Nobel Prize has been given to women only 62 times. There have been more than 900 recipients.
Polish-French physicist and chemist Marie Curie was the first woman to win the Nobel. She is the only woman to receive the award twice – in 1903 for physics and 1911 for chemistry.
While there are few women Nobel laureates, there are fewer who have received the award in the fields of physics, chemistry, medicine, and economics.
Dr Kariko is the 13th woman to receive the Nobel Prize in Medicine.
Most women who have been honoured have been recognised for their work in literature (17 winners) and peace (18 winners).
Only four women have received the physics Nobel, while eight women have received the prize for chemistry.
Only two women have received the Nobel Prize for economic sciences.
White men have traditionally been Nobel Prize winners. But more than five years ago, the nominating bodies started to diversify. There’s hope that more women will join the league.