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The 2026 Nobel Peace Prize laureate will be announced on October 9. The selection process for the closely watched award, however, is not fully open to the public.
A total of 287 candidates have been nominated this year: 208 individuals and 79 organizations. The official list of nominees is kept confidential for 50 years and stored in a safe in the basement of the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo.
Thousands of people are eligible to nominate candidates and may publicly disclose their nominations. As a result, names reported in the media before the award is announced cannot be confirmed as official nominees.
U.S. President Donald Trump has said he deserves the Peace Prize and claimed to have ended eight wars. The leaders of Cambodia, Israel and Pakistan have said they nominated him. However, the official records remain confidential, making it impossible to verify those claims independently. Experts consider his chances of winning very low, even if he has been nominated.
Possible candidates discussed this year include Pope Leo XIV, the International Criminal Court, the International Court of Justice and Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the Palestinian territories. Also among those mentioned are the Emergency Response Rooms network, which brings together community groups providing aid during Sudan’s civil war, and Save the Children, for its support of children affected by conflicts.
Another possible nominee is the International Space Station. The project is cited as an example of cooperation between countries, involving the United States, Russia and European countries despite political differences.
The winner is selected by the five-member Norwegian Nobel Committee, appointed by the Norwegian parliament. The committee’s composition reflects the balance of political forces in parliament, and candidates are nominated by Norwegian political parties. Its members include retired politicians as well as representatives from other fields.
The award’s criteria are based on Alfred Nobel’s will. He stipulated that the Peace Prize should go to the person who had done the most to promote fraternity between nations, the abolition or reduction of standing armies, and the establishment and promotion of peace congresses. In modern times, these criteria are interpreted more broadly.
Committee secretary Kristian Berg Harpviken said the award should be assessed in light of current circumstances. The committee considers not only people who promote peace in the traditional sense, but also international agreements, major global developments and initiatives that could have a broad impact on peace and cooperation. Harpviken prepares the committee’s work and takes part in discussions, but does not have voting rights.
Those eligible to nominate candidates include members of governments and parliaments, serving heads of state, university rectors, professors of history, social sciences, law and philosophy, as well as previous Nobel Peace Prize laureates. The deadline for submitting nominations was January 31. Committee members can also nominate candidates, but must do so no later than the first meeting in February.
The committee first reviews submitted candidates and draws up a shortlist. Permanent advisers and other experts then assess the candidates’ work and contributions. The committee usually meets once a month, and the final decision is generally made in August or September, Harpviken said.
The committee usually seeks to reach a consensus. If it cannot agree, the winner is decided by a majority vote. Differences of opinion can emerge during the process: the most recent resignation by a committee member in protest occurred in 1994, when Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat shared the award with Israeli politicians Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Rabin.
The laureate receives a gold medal, a diploma and 12 million Swedish kronor, or about $1.2 million. The international attention that comes with the Nobel name is also considered an important part of the award.
The laureate 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 then, the official list of nominees will remain sealed, and the identity of the next laureate will remain confidential.
