© Nobel Prize Museum. Photo: Alexander Mahmoud
The Nobel Prize Museum opened in 2001 in conjunction with the one hundredth anniversary celebration of the Nobel Prize. Since then, the museum has enjoyed financial stability and a growing number of visitors each year. From the beginning its work has focused primarily on welcoming international tourists who are keen on learning more about the Nobel Prize Laureates’ discoveries and contributions. But in recent years, the museum has been expanding its efforts to reach out to a broader audience amongst the general public, teachers and schoolchildren of Stockholm and the rest of Sweden. The funding awarded through this grant makes it possible for the museum to aim even higher in its contributions to the local community.
“Our work is aimed at cultivating the public’s interest in science, literature and peace issues, especially amongst children and young people”, says Erika Lanner, CEO and Director of the Nobel Prize Museum. “Our projects spread the message of the Nobel Prize that people can change the world for the better, sharing knowledge and promoting objectivity but also stimulating creativity and ingenuity. We are very pleased that we can now aim even higher in those efforts.”
The awarded grant will be used to host panel discussions with researchers, launch new conversation series, arrange various activities for teachers and produce a number of exhibitions over the next five years that take advantage of the breadth of the Nobel Prize to explore how science interacts with culture in our society.
Several new formats will also be developed with a view to engaging a younger audience. One such initiative is collaborating with teachers in training to form after-school clubs for lower secondary school children in socio-economically vulnerable areas. Another is inviting upper secondary school students to participate in a project that brings together young people with literary professionals around Nobel Prize-winning literature. This Literary Hub will cultivate the students’ dreams and visions for a better society and will culminate in an exhibition, an event, or some other manifestation of their ideas. There is also funding in the grant for further development of Nobel Prize Lessons, online teaching resources that are made available within just twenty-four hours of the announcement of each Nobel Prize. The Lessons help teachers make complex subjects accessible to students aged twelve and up.
The financial support from the two foundations will also make it possible for the museum to expand Nobel Calling Stockholm, a festival of science that has been held every October for the last three years, with events in various places around the city to celebrate and learn about the year’s Nobel Prizes, which are announced at that time.
About the Nobel Prize Museum
The Nobel Prize shows that ideas can change the world. The courage, creativity and perseverance of the Nobel Laureates inspire us and give us hope for the future. Films, in-depth tours, and artefacts tell the stories of the Laureates and their contributions ‘for the greatest benefit to humankind’. Based on the Nobel Prize’s unique combination of fields – natural sciences, literature and peace – we examine the greatest challenges of our time and show how we can respond to them through science, humanism and collaboration. With our exhibitions, school programmes, lectures and conversations, we at the Nobel Prize Museum strive to engage the public in making a better world. Today we are located at Stortorget in Gamla Stan, Stockholm’s Old Town district. We are planning to create a new home for our public outreach activities at Slussen in downtown Stockholm.
Further information
Rebecka Oxelström, Head of Press
rebecka.oxelstrom@nobelprize.org, + 46 734 12 66 75