“It must be a game-changer”

“I think we’ve succeeded in identifying pioneering breakthroughs,” says the Professor of Theoretical Chemistry at Uppsala University.

In line with tradition, the Nobel Committee for Chemistry ascended the podium at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm at 11:45 on 8 October. In front of a large press contingent, the Permanent Secretary and Uppsala Professor of Evolutionary Biology, Hans Ellegren, announced that the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry had been awarded for the development of metal-organic frameworks. One of the laureates, Susumu Kitagawa, participated by phone, clearly emotional and happy.

But are the laureates really entirely unaware that they are in the running for the Nobel Prize?

“Some candidates may suspect that they’ve come up in the discussions, as there’s quite a lot of speculation in various scientific journals. But everyone is surprised when they get the call from the Permanent Secretary, or at least they sound surprised,” says Johan Åqvist.

As far as this year’s Prize is concerned, he considers the three laureates to be clear pioneers in the field.

“Metal-organic frameworks, or MOFs, are game-changers in that they are a completely new type of material and already have lots of exciting applications. I think it’s a fantastic choice for the Prize.”

Elected to the Nobel Committee in 2015

Johan Åqvist became a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences back in 2009. When a member of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry announced his resignation in 2015, the Uppsala professor was elected in his place. The nomination came as a surprise.

“You don’t have any inkling about such things, as that process has a life of its own.

The various classes of the Academy elect their members, which are organised on the basis of ten scientific disciplines. The Nobel Committees for Chemistry and Physics each consist of eight members, usually from the classes for chemistry and physics respectively, and are nominated by them. The committees for each scientific discipline are then approved by all Academy members.

The Nobel Year starts in September

The Nobel Committee for Chemistry is responsible for handling the nominations and assessing potential laureates for the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Work gets under way in September with a call for nominations, with the Committee for Chemistry sending out calls to around 1,000 universities worldwide on a rotating basis. The others entitled to nominate are Academy members, former Nobel Laureates and all Nordic professors of chemistry and physics.

“The most important category, however, is the one we call ‘researchers’ and we choose that category ourselves in the class for chemistry,” explains Johan Åqvist. “This is a list of up to 900 people who we know are competent men and women across the globe, and it is also the category with the highest response rate.”

Names that recur

The deadline for nominations is 31 January. Out of approximately 3,000 mailings, proposals are received for around 400 to 500 candidates. Most of the names are already on the Committee’s list from previous years. In addition, chemistry has points of contact with both physics and medicine, which means that nominations can overlap.

“That is why we meet in the different Committees, to coordinate our work. It should not be the case that someone receives two Nobel Prizes in the same year, or that candidate proposals fall through the cracks,” says Johan Åqvist.

The biggest challenge is to identify the areas that are truly worthy of the Prize.

“But also who did what, and when. The most famous researcher is not always the first. And there can only be a maximum of three laureates.”

Commission expert opinions

During the year, the members commission expert opinions containing additional information on areas or people of interest. These opinions are then discussed within the Committee; nothing may be discussed by e-mail.

“We have one meeting per month, all year round, except in January. We also have a residential conference for a couple of days in the summer where we write and compile our report,” says Johan Åqvist.

The Committee then submits its final report in September. Out of a number of conceivable candidate proposals, the Committee suggests their top-ranked one to the Academy. All members of the Academy then vote at a joint meeting, where decisions are normally made by acclamation. There may be several conceivable proposals, but how the actual voting process takes place is confidential.

Distinctive discoveries that change the game

Sensitivity to trends does not lie behind the choice of areas or candidates, nor is the Prize any kind of reward for long and faithful service, emphasises Johan Åqvist.

“It is very clearly stated in Alfred Nobel’s will that scientific quality is the only applicable criterion. That said, clearly the nominations received are influenced by current trends. A good example was the 2024 Prize awarded for protein structure prediction, and similarly for the CRISPR ‘genetic scissors’ system. Both are examples of distinctive discoveries that suddenly changed the game.”

During Nobel Week in December, Committee members act as hosts, companions and presenters. In 2024, it was Johan Åqvist’s turn to give the presentation speech at the Stockholm Concert Hall, where the laureates received their medals from the King of Sweden. Prior to that, Johan Åqvist was Chair of the Chemistry Committee from 2021 to 2023.

Do you have any memories of the Nobel Prize festivities that particularly stand out?

“The laureates are often colourful people in various ways, so there are some that are very memorable. For example, the then 97-year-old John Goodenough, one of the laureates for the lithium-ion battery, who attended the festivities in a wheelchair. His booming laugh was noticeable at the Nobel banquet and during the lectures – an absolutely fantastic guy,” says Johan Åqvist.

His appointment expires in December 2026, as members can serve for a maximum of 12 years. It has been exciting but intensive work, with his own research in theoretical biochemistry taking a back seat.

“But I’ve also learnt a lot. Your knowledge broadens when you have to familiarise yourself with areas far removed from your own research. That can take time, but it’s also great fun.”

Anneli Björkman