Rice’s Wittung-Stafshede discusses role with Nobel Committee for Chemistry

Rice University is home to a prominent scientist who plays a key role in one of the most prestigious honors in the world. Pernilla Wittung-Stafshede, the Charles W. Duncan Jr.-Welch Chair in Chemistry and a scholar at the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, is a member of the Nobel committee for chemistry. Each year, this committee is responsible for proposing Nobel Prize laureates in chemistry to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, which makes the final decision.

Wittung-Stafshede’s position is both rare and significant as very few universities worldwide have a faculty member involved in this historic process. Her work provides Rice students and colleagues with a unique connection to the international scientific community and to one of the most recognized awards in history.

In a Q&A with Rice News, she explains how the Nobel committee operates behind the scenes, what factors contribute to choosing the winners and why the rules are strict.

Q: What does it mean to be part of the Nobel committee for chemistry?

A: It is a great honor. It requires a significant amount of time, but I learn so much about chemistry. The Nobel chemistry committee has eight members, all selected from the chemistry section of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, which includes 18 members who are under the age of 67. 

I have been a member of the committee for six years and have attended monthly meetings in Stockholm with much additional work in between. However, next year, I will step down from my position as it is challenging to travel monthly from Houston, and the academy prefers committee members to have a significant affiliation in Sweden.

Q: How does the committee select the Nobel Prize winners?

A: The process of exploring major chemistry discoveries is much like detective work. We need to uncover not only the significant breakthroughs themselves but also the pioneers behind these achievements who paved the way for impactful developments today. It’s important to understand that it is not always the most cited publication that contains the original discovery.

The Nobel Prize is awarded based on specific discoveries or developments rather than lifetime achievements, even though you may sometimes wish it were otherwise. In some cases, identifying the original contributor can be challenging due to numerous candidates or unresolved controversies. 

When this occurs, that particular topic may not qualify for a Nobel Prize. Many deserving discoveries exist, but unfortunately, not all can receive this esteemed recognition.

Q: How does the selection process work?

A: Every year, thousands of individuals are invited to nominate candidates for the Nobel Prize in chemistry. This group includes chemistry faculty from around the world, professors from Scandinavian universities, former laureates and select rotating universities across different continents. 

The names of the nominated scientists help us identify relevant chemistry topics for investigation. The motivations given for the nominees are not important as we conduct our own evaluations.

Often, candidates are nominated multiple times. For each topic, we request confidential reports from experts in that field, asking them whether breakthroughs have been made and who might be potential prize candidates. We typically gather between 10 and 20 reports over several years before a topic can be proposed for a prize suggestion. 

These reports are kept confidential for 50 years, meaning even the existence of the reports remains undisclosed. This secrecy encourages experts to provide honest opinions without fear of repercussions.

Q: Why are there so many rules around the process?

A: The Nobel Prizes adhere to the stipulations outlined in founder Alfred Nobel’s last will and testament. Following his death, the Nobel Foundation was established to manage the finances, and the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences was entrusted with the responsibility of selecting the recipients for the physics and chemistry prizes as well as the later-added economics prize in memory of Alfred Nobel.

Nobel’s will set specific rules such as limiting the number of laureates per prize to three. For the chemistry prize, the award is granted for a discovery or development, while the physics prize is strictly for discoveries. 

One rule was modified early on: Originally, prizes were intended to recognize the most important discovery from the previous year. However, since the impact of discoveries often takes time to materialize, this rule is now interpreted to mean that the impact of the work must be evident at the time of the award.

Most discoveries that are recognized tend to be 10 to 20 years old. Last year was an exception when the chemistry prize was awarded for protein structure prediction, where the key publication was reported only three years earlier, due to its immediate impact. While Nobel’s will serves as a guiding framework, the foundation may make minor adjustments to ensure the prizes remain relevant.

Q: What happens behind the scenes on the day the Nobel Prizes are announced?

A: The announcement day is one of the most exciting moments of the year, rivaled only by the Nobel Prize ceremony on Dec. 10. Although the committee selects the prize winners, it is formally a proposal. On the morning of the announcement, the entire academy meets and votes on the candidates. Most often, the result is affirmative; however, discussions can sometimes delay the press conference.

After the vote, the committee calls the new laureates to share the exciting news. This is a fun moment, often involving waking them up, and their reactions vary from disbelief to eager anticipation; some seem to expect our call. Occasionally, we are unable to reach them until after the press conference has concluded.

Once we inform and congratulate the winners, we proceed to the press conference to announce them publicly. This is when the news becomes official. Following the announcement, we typically conduct numerous interviews with newspapers, television, radio and other media outlets as a significant amount of international press attends on this day.

That evening, I usually attend a Nobel Prize Museum event called “Crash Course on the Nobel Prizes,” where we present the year’s awards to the public in creative and engaging ways, from Legos to explosive reactions.

Q: Why have so few women won Nobel Prizes in science?

A: Historically, most scientists have been men, and women were often excluded from universities in the early days of science. I am only the third woman ever appointed to the Nobel Prize committee. 

While progress has been made, women continue to be underrepresented at the professor level in many science departments. However, there is change: in the past five to seven years, four women have received the Nobel Prize in chemistry, which is as many as all the women who won in the years combined since the prize was established in 1901.

Increasing the number of women laureates relies on providing fair opportunities to succeed in academia and on increasing the nomination of women scientists. The committee can only select from those who are nominated, and currently, only a very small fraction of nominees are women. 

To help address this issue, we have invited more female chemistry faculty to make nominations for the prize. This strategy works: We have found that women are more likely than men to nominate fellow women.