The Nobel committee makes its decision first; the call comes afterward. But the person on the other end may be asleep, teaching, or unsure whether the phone is ringing with important news at all. Laureates’ accounts show no single way to experience the moment—and they do not establish that everyone spends the preceding days expecting a call.
When does the Nobel committee call?
For the Nobel Prize in Physics, former committee member Mats Larsson says the committee calls laureates a few minutes after making its decision, then goes to the press conference. “We call the laureates a few minutes after the decision has been made, although we do not always manage to reach them,” he told INFN in an interview published September 30, 2026. That account describes Physics; it should not be assumed to establish the exact procedure for every Nobel category. Read Larsson’s interview with INFN.
The short interval between decision and announcement can meet a very ordinary schedule. In 2023, Physics laureate Anne L’Huillier was teaching when the committee tried to reach her. The committee contacted her husband to find a way to get through; after she finished teaching, she spoke with the committee, said she was delighted, and returned to class about ten minutes later. Larsson describes the call attempt and contact with L’Huillier.
What does the call feel like?
Accounts range from skepticism and disorientation to a call answered by someone else—or missed altogether. These are individual stories, not a survey, so they cannot show which reaction is most common.
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Disbelief: Brian Kobilka
When the phone rang, 2012 Chemistry laureate Brian Kobilka initially let it ring because he thought it might be a wrong number. After answering and hearing the news, he recalled that the experience felt like a blur. Stanford Report recounts Kobilka’s reaction.
Woken from sleep: Paul Milgrom
Economics laureate Paul Milgrom was asleep, with his phone off, when his neighbor and co-winner Robert Wilson came to his door. Wilson called out, “Paul, wake up! You’ve won the Nobel Prize.” Milgrom later said he was disoriented and wondered whether Wilson meant that “we” had won. Stanford Report describes Wilson waking Milgrom.
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Someone else answers: Katalin Karikó
In an official Nobel Prize interview, 2023 Physiology or Medicine laureate Katalin Karikó said she was asleep when the call came and her husband picked up. The interview description says the call woke her at home outside Philadelphia. Watch or read Karikó’s Nobel Prize interview.
A call that is missed: Willard Boyle
In his official Nobel Prize interview, 2009 Physics laureate Willard Boyle recalled a mix-up: he woke but did not get to the telephone before missing the Royal Swedish Academy’s call. The interview also recalls a phone ringing at five o’clock and a voice from Stockholm. Read Boyle’s Nobel Prize interview.
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What if the laureate does not answer?
A missed or unanswered call does not necessarily end the attempt to deliver the news. In L’Huillier’s case, the committee contacted her husband and spoke with her after class. In Milgrom’s case, Wilson, who lived nearby, went to his door. The route to the laureate can depend on the circumstances; these examples do not establish a universal backup procedure.
Does everyone wait expectantly for the call?
No such conclusion follows from the available accounts. Larsson says candidates cannot nominate themselves and nominations are confidential. Qualified nominators submit nominations, which are reviewed by committees with specialist reports; nominations are kept confidential for 50 years, or longer in some circumstances. That secrecy can help explain why the news may come as a surprise, but it does not tell us what any particular laureate expected or felt beforehand. Nobel Prize: nomination and selection.
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How quickly does private news become public?
The call can be the start of a very different day. Kobilka recalled his phone ringing through the night after the announcement and a news agency arriving at his home. Nobel recognition can also bring later interviews, invitations, and public attention, though those experiences vary. Stanford Report on the attention after Kobilka’s award.
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