The Nobel Peace Prize will be announced on October 9, putting renewed attention on one of the world’s most prestigious and closely watched awards.
This year’s list of nominees is secret, meaning there is no official public list of contenders. However, some nominators have disclosed their choices, while experts and international observers have identified several possible candidates.
Here is how the Nobel Peace Prize nomination and selection process works.
Who Has Been Nominated?
A total of 287 candidates have been nominated this year, including 208 individuals and 79 organizations.
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The identities of the nominees are not publicly disclosed. Under Nobel rules, nomination information remains secret for 50 years and is held at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo.
That does not prevent nominators from publicly announcing whom they nominated. As a result, some names become known even though there is no official public shortlist.
Is Donald Trump Nominated?
US President Donald Trump has been publicly named as a nominee by the leaders of Cambodia, Israel and Pakistan, although those claims cannot be independently verified because the official nomination records remain confidential.
Even if Trump has been nominated, however, experts consider his chances of receiving the prize to be low.
Being nominated is also far less significant than it may appear. Thousands of eligible people can submit nominations each year, and nomination itself does not represent an endorsement from the Norwegian Nobel Committee.
Who Are the Possible Winners?
Several individuals and organizations have emerged as potential contenders.
Pope Leo, the International Criminal Court, the International Court of Justice and Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, have all been discussed as possible candidates.
Other possibilities include Sudan’s Emergency Response Rooms, a network of community groups providing humanitarian assistance during the country’s civil war, and Save the Children for its work with children affected by conflict.
An unusual potential candidate is the International Space Station, which represents cooperation between countries that have frequently been geopolitical rivals. The United States, Russia and European countries have worked together on the station for decades.
However, speculation about possible winners should be treated cautiously. The Norwegian Nobel Committee does not publish its shortlist or confirm whether particular candidates are under serious consideration.
Who Actually Decides?
The winner is selected by the Norwegian Nobel Committee, which consists of five members appointed by Norway’s parliament.
The committee traditionally includes people with political and academic backgrounds. Its composition reflects the political balance of the Norwegian parliament, with members nominated by Norway’s political parties.
The current committee is chaired by the head of the Norwegian branch of PEN International, an organization focused on freedom of expression. Another member is an academic.
Although the committee is appointed through a political process, the prize itself is intended to be awarded according to the criteria established by Alfred Nobel.
What Makes Someone Eligible to Win?
The formal criteria come from Alfred Nobel’s 1895 will.
The Peace Prize is intended for the person who has done the most or best work to promote fellowship among nations, reduce or abolish standing armies and establish or promote peace congresses.
But applying those principles is not simply a matter of checking whether a candidate has worked on peace.
The committee also considers the international circumstances surrounding a candidate’s work.
Kristian Berg Harpviken, the secretary of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, has previously said the committee examines global developments, major international concerns and promising peace processes.
That means the committee can consider everything from an ongoing peace negotiation to a new international agreement that could influence global security.
Who Can Nominate Someone?
The nomination process is much broader than many people realize.
Eligible nominators include members of governments and national parliaments, current heads of state, university rectors and professors in fields including history, social sciences, law and philosophy.
Former Nobel Peace Prize laureates can also nominate candidates.
Members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee can submit their own nominations as well.
The deadline for nominations was January 31, while committee members can make nominations until their first meeting in February.
How Does the Committee Choose the Winner?
The committee initially considers all nominations before establishing a shortlist.
Candidates on the shortlist are then examined by the committee’s permanent advisers and other experts. The committee meets approximately once a month to discuss the candidates and developments relevant to the prize.
The final decision is generally reached in August or September.
The committee normally tries to reach a consensus. If its members cannot agree, the winner is selected by majority vote.
The process has occasionally produced major disagreements. The last time a committee member resigned in protest was in 1994, when Yasser Arafat shared the prize with Israeli leaders Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Rabin.
What Does the Winner Receive?
The Nobel Peace Prize comes with a gold medal, a diploma and a financial award of 12 million Swedish crowns, worth roughly $1.2 million.
But the financial prize is only part of the award’s significance. Winning the Nobel Peace Prize can give an individual or organization enormous international visibility and influence.
For political figures and organizations working on conflicts, that recognition can itself become an important source of diplomatic leverage.
When Will the Winner Be Announced?
The 2026 Nobel Peace Prize will be announced on October 9 at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo. The announcement will be made by the chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee.
The award ceremony will take place at Oslo City Hall on December 10, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death.
Until the announcement, however, speculation about the winner will remain just that.
The secrecy surrounding the nominations means even the most widely discussed candidates are not necessarily the committee’s preferred choices. Ultimately, five members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee will decide which individual or organization they believe best represents the pursuit of peace in the world today.
With information from Reuters.
