Since the Nobel prizes were first awarded in 1901, few women have been recognized in the categories of physics, chemistry and physiology or medicine.
The academies that award the prizes have acknowledged that women are under-represented among Nobel laureates, and have changed their nomination procedures to diversify the pool of winners.
But men still dominate the 125-year history of the awards.
In this year’s Nobel run-up, Nature shines a spotlight on female winners — and invites you to test your knowledge. This page covers data on Nobel prizewinners up to 2025; it will be updated with this year’s winners.
Question 1
Question 2
Question 3
Question 4
Final challenge
How many female science Nobel laureates can you name?
The first two prize entries have been filled in to get you started. Enter a surname or first name to make a guess. Click any revealed laureate to read about their work. You have ten minutes to answer while this page is visible.
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Marie Skłodowska-Curie
- Prize:
- Physics, 1903
- Citation:
- Research on radiation phenomena
- Prize:
- Chemistry, 1911
- Citation:
- Discovery of radium and polonium
Born in Poland as Maria Skłodowska, she later became a French citizen. She coined the term ‘radioactivity’ and shared half of the 1903 physics Nobel with her husband Pierre Curie for studies in radiation. She won the 1911 chemistry prize for her discoveries of polonium and radium (her husband died in 1906).
Credit: Henri Manuel. Nobel Foundation archive.
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Not yet found
- Prize:
- Chemistry, 1935
- Citation:
- Synthesis of new radioactive elements
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Not yet found
- Prize:
- Physiology or medicine, 1947
- Citation:
- Discovery of catalytic conversion of glycogen
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Not yet found
- Prize:
- Physics, 1963
- Citation:
- Discoveries concerning nuclear shell structure
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Not yet found
- Prize:
- Chemistry, 1964
- Citation:
- X-ray determinations of biochemical structures
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Not yet found
- Prize:
- Physiology or medicine, 1977
- Citation:
- Development of radioimmunoassays of peptide hormones
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Not yet found
- Prize:
- Physiology or medicine, 1983
- Citation:
- Discovery of mobile genetic elements
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Not yet found
- Prize:
- Physiology or medicine, 1986
- Citation:
- Discovery of growth factors
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Not yet found
- Prize:
- Physiology or medicine, 1988
- Citation:
- Discoveries of important principles for drug treatment
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Not yet found
- Prize:
- Physiology or medicine, 1995
- Citation:
- Discoveries in genetic control of early embryonic development
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Not yet found
- Prize:
- Physiology or medicine, 2004
- Citation:
- Discoveries of odorant receptors and the olfactory system
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Not yet found
- Prize:
- Physiology or medicine, 2008
- Citation:
- Discovery of human immunodeficiency virus
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Not yet found
- Prize:
- Physiology or medicine, 2009
- Citation:
- Discovery of how chromosomes are protected by telomeres
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Not yet found
- Prize:
- Physiology or medicine, 2009
- Citation:
- Discovery of how chromosomes are protected by telomeres
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Not yet found
- Prize:
- Chemistry, 2009
- Citation:
- Studies of the structure and function of the ribosome
-
Not yet found
- Prize:
- Physiology or medicine, 2014
- Citation:
- Discoveries of cells that constitute a positioning system in the brain
-
Not yet found
- Prize:
- Physiology or medicine, 2015
- Citation:
- Novel therapy against malaria
-
Not yet found
- Prize:
- Physics, 2018
- Citation:
- Method for generating high-intensity, ultra-short optical pulses
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Not yet found
- Prize:
- Chemistry, 2018
- Citation:
- Directed evolution of enzymes
-
Not yet found
- Prize:
- Physics, 2020
- Citation:
- Discovery of a supermassive compact object at the centre of our Galaxy
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Not yet found
- Prize:
- Chemistry, 2020
- Citation:
- Development of a method for genome editing
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Not yet found
- Prize:
- Chemistry, 2020
- Citation:
- Development of a method for genome editing
-
Not yet found
- Prize:
- Chemistry, 2022
- Citation:
- Development of click chemistry and bioorthogonal chemistry
-
Not yet found
- Prize:
- Physics, 2023
- Citation:
- Experimental methods that generate attosecond pulses of light
-
Not yet found
- Prize:
- Physiology or medicine, 2023
- Citation:
- Nucleoside base modifications enabling effective messenger RNA vaccines
-
Not yet found
- Prize:
- Physiology or medicine, 2025
- Citation:
- Discoveries concerning peripheral immune tolerance
