Nobel Prizes: Laureates to receive prizes in home countries
text_fields
Stockholm: In view of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Nobel Prize ceremonies of this year will be a de-centralised and truncated affair with awards given away at respective home countries of the Nobel laureates.
The Nobel foundation announced the decision, in a repeat of last year's model imposed by the Covid-19 restrictions.
However, an award ceremony will be held at Stockholm's City Hall on December 10 with a local audience, but without the traditional banquet, Xinhua news agency quoted the Foundation as saying in a statement on Thursday.
The event will be broadcast on TV and on the Nobel Foundation's social media channels.
"I think everybody would like the Covid-19 pandemic to be over, but we are not there yet," Vidar Helgesen, Executive Director of the Nobel Foundation, was quoted as saying in the statement.
"The Nobel Prize is a global phenomenon. Every year, laureates from different continents are selected. Uncertainty about the course of the pandemic and international travel possibilities is the reason why the 2021 laureates will receive their medals and diplomas in their home countries.
"As our traditional events assume new shapes, we are looking forward to reaching even more people around the world by using new formats and digital solutions -- spreading the knowledge, inspiration and hope that the Nobel Prize stands for," Helgesen added.
Traditionally a ceremony is held in the Swedish capital to mark the anniversary of the death of Swedish chemist and inventor Alfred Nobel on December 10, the day the annual Nobel Prizes are awarded.
That tradition also used to have the Laureates prseent at attend the ceremony and the banquet in person, and participate in a series of Nobel Week activities, such as lectures and concerts.
