Nobel season opens with Medicine Prize

The announcement of the Nobel Medicine Prize on Monday opens an unusual 2019 Nobel season in which two literature laureates will be crowned after a scandal postponed last year's award, amid speculation Greta Thunberg could nab the prestigious Peace Prize. The winner of the Medicine Prize will be revealed on Monday at 11:30 (0930 GMT) in Stockholm. It will be followed by the prizes for physics on Tuesday, chemistry on Wednesday, the literature on Thursday, and economics on Monday, October 14.

In between, the Peace Prize will be awarded in Oslo on Friday, October 11, with Swedish teen climate activist Greta seen as the favorite on betting sites such as Ladbrokes. Predictions about possible winners are notoriously difficult as the prize-awarding institutions keep the names of the nominees secret for 50 years.

For the Peace Prize, the Norwegian Nobel Committee has only disclosed that it received 301 nominations this year. Traditionally sensitive to issues gripping the public's attention, the committee has undoubtedly noted the recent "Greta phenomenon" and the enthusiasm she has sparked among young generations in her campaign to raise awareness about climate change.

Experts remain however divided on whether there is an actual link between armed conflicts and climate change. The head of the Peace Research Institute of Oslo, Henrik Urdal, therefore deemed it "extremely unlikely" the 16-year-old would win, adding her young age could also work against her.

The youngest laureate so far is Malala Yousafzai, who won the 2014 Peace Prize at the age of 17. Other names circulating are Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who clinched a peace deal with arch-foe Eritrea, and NGOs such as Reporters without Borders and the Committee to Protect Journalists.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)