Can you name the women who have won a science Nobel prize?

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October 2, 2026

Can you name the women who have won a science Nobel prize?

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.

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).

Nobel prize profile

Credit: Henri Manuel. Nobel Foundation archive.
Prize:

Chemistry, 1935

Citation:

Synthesis of new radioactive elements
Prize:

Physiology or medicine, 1947

Citation:

Discovery of catalytic conversion of glycogen
Prize:

Physics, 1963

Citation:

Discoveries concerning nuclear shell structure
Prize:

Chemistry, 1964

Citation:

X-ray determinations of biochemical structures
Prize:

Physiology or medicine, 1977

Citation:

Development of radioimmunoassays of peptide hormones
Prize:

Physiology or medicine, 1983

Citation:

Discovery of mobile genetic elements
Prize:

Physiology or medicine, 1986

Citation:

Discovery of growth factors
Prize:

Physiology or medicine, 1988

Citation:

Discoveries of important principles for drug treatment
Prize:

Physiology or medicine, 1995

Citation:

Discoveries in genetic control of early embryonic development
Prize:

Physiology or medicine, 2004

Citation:

Discoveries of odorant receptors and the olfactory system
Prize:

Physiology or medicine, 2008

Citation:

Discovery of human immunodeficiency virus
Prize:

Physiology or medicine, 2009

Citation:

Discovery of how chromosomes are protected by telomeres
Prize:

Physiology or medicine, 2009

Citation:

Discovery of how chromosomes are protected by telomeres
Prize:

Chemistry, 2009

Citation:

Studies of the structure and function of the ribosome
Prize:

Physiology or medicine, 2014

Citation:

Discoveries of cells that constitute a positioning system in the brain
Prize:

Physiology or medicine, 2015

Citation:

Novel therapy against malaria
Prize:

Physics, 2018

Citation:

Method for generating high-intensity, ultra-short optical pulses
Prize:

Chemistry, 2018

Citation:

Directed evolution of enzymes
Prize:

Physics, 2020

Citation:

Discovery of a supermassive compact object at the centre of our Galaxy
Prize:

Chemistry, 2020

Citation:

Development of a method for genome editing
Prize:

Chemistry, 2020

Citation:

Development of a method for genome editing
Prize:

Chemistry, 2022

Citation:

Development of click chemistry and bioorthogonal chemistry
Prize:

Physics, 2023

Citation:

Experimental methods that generate attosecond pulses of light
Prize:

Physiology or medicine, 2023

Citation:

Nucleoside base modifications enabling effective messenger RNA vaccines
Prize:

Physiology or medicine, 2025

Citation:

Discoveries concerning peripheral immune tolerance