COVID-19 alters Nobel prize award programme
The coronavirus pandemic has upended the Nobel prize award week, with several events cancelled or moved online.
An award lecture by U.S. poet Louise Gluck, the Nobel literature laureate, was moved online. The Swedish Academy cited Ms. Gluck, who was born in New York and works as a professor of English at Yale University, “for her unmistakable poetic voice.’’
She and other laureates in the fields of medicine, physics, chemistry, peace and economics will receive their awards, a diploma and a gold medal in their home countries in the coming days.
Some were to be honoured in their homes, like Ms. Gluck on Tuesday; others at the homes of Swedish diplomats or research institutes.
First off the mark is chemistry prize co-winner Emmanuelle Charpentier of France.
The Berlin-based researcher is scheduled to receive her award late Monday at the Swedish ambassador’s residence in Berlin.
Ms. Charpentier and co-winner Jennifer Doudna of the U.S. were cited for their work on genome editing.
Video clips of the award presentations were to be included in a broadcast on Thursday from Stockholm City Hall.
December 10, is the day the awards are usually presented, marking the anniversary of the death of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel (1833-1896), the inventor of dynamite, who created the Nobel awards.
This year’s awards are each worth 10 million kronor (1.1 million dollars).
Organisers have earlier cancelled the banquets held in honour of the laureates in Stockholm as well as Oslo, where the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded.
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