List of prizes known as the Nobel or the highest honors of a field

Several fields of human cultural and scientific development are not included in the list of Nobel Prizes, because they are neither among the prizes established as part of Alfred Nobel's will nor, in the case of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, sponsored afterwards by the Nobel Foundation. While the foundation has discouraged (and occasionally taken legal action against) individuals and organizations that have used the Nobel name to refer to prizes not meeting the aforementioned criteria, several prominent individuals and organizations have nonetheless used the label "Nobel Prize of X" to refer to highly prestigious awards in fields of activity not covered by the official Nobel Prizes. These awards are listed below.

Prizes sponsored by the Nobel Foundation
Alfred Nobel's last will of 1895 only included five prizes, covering outstanding achievements who confer the "greatest benefit on mankind" in the fields of chemistry, physics, literature, peace, and physiology or medicine. The original Nobel prizes thus includes:
 * Nobel Prize in Chemistry
 * Nobel Prize in Physics
 * Nobel Prize in Literature
 * Nobel Peace Prize
 * Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

In addition to the prizes listed above, the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences is sponsored by the Nobel Foundation. The foundation has trademarked the term "Nobel Prize" and this designation cannot be legally used to refer to any prizes other than the five original Nobels.

Prizes not sponsored by the Nobel Foundation
Several prizes in fields of study and achievement not covered by the original Nobel Prizes have been established by various entities. Some have been referred to as the "Nobel Prize of" that particular field, in the vast majority of cases without the approval of the Nobel Foundation. These prizes are generally the highest awards in their fields. For some fields, more than one prestigious prizes are listed below. Some most important prizes in the world are presented in bold. The distinguished prizes not conferred by the Nobel Foundation include (with the year when a prize was first awarded in brackets):

Applied mathematics
1: The Gauss Prize is awarded every four years to one mathematician on the occasion of the International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM). It was awarded for the first time at the 2006 ICM, and so far only few mathematicians have received the medal.
 * John von Neumann Lecture Prize (1960)
 * Carl Friedrich Gauss Prize (2006)1
 * George David Birkhoff Prize (1968)2
 * Norbert Wiener Prize (1970)2

2: The Birkhoff Prize and the Wiener Prize are both awarded jointly by AMS and SIAM. The recipient must be a member of one of the two societies. In 1967, these two prizes were established at the same time. The initial contribution for the Birkhoff Prize came from the Birkhoff family and for the Wiener Prize from the Mathematics Department of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Each is to be awarded, every three years (initially every five years, which is why the two prizes were first awarded in 1968 and in 1970 respectively), for outstanding contributions to applied mathematics in the highest and broadest sense. In the early years, the Birkhoff Prize was awarded at an AMS meeting and the Wiener Prize at a SIAM meeting. Now they are usually awarded at joint mathematics meetings. ''See also ICIAM Prizes (1999), William Benter Prize in Applied Mathematics (2010). ''

Mathematics
1: The Fields Medal is awarded every four years to two, three, or four mathematicians under 40 years of age on the occasion of the International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM).
 * Abel Prize (2003)
 * Fields Medal (1936)1
 * Chern Medal (2010)2
 * Salem Prize
 * Wolf Prize in Mathematics (1978)3

2: The Chern Medal is awarded every four years to one mathematician on the occasion of the ICM. It was awarded for the first time at the 2010 ICM, and so far only few mathematicians have received the medal.

3: The Wolf Prize was considered an equivalent of the Nobel Prize for mathematics until the Abel Prize was established. See also Crafoord Prize in Mathematics (1982), Maryam Mirzakhani Prize in Mathematics (1988), Rolf Schock Prize in Mathematics (1993), Leroy P. Steele Prize (1993), Clay Research Award (1999), Shaw Prize in Mathematical Sciences (2004), Breakthrough Prize in Mathematics (2013).

Statistics
1: The COPSS Presidents' Award is awarded annually to a statistician who is either under 41 years of age, or under 46 years of age and has received a terminal statistics-related degree within 12 years.
 * Rousseeuw Prize for Statistics (2022)
 * International Prize in Statistics (2017)
 * COPSS Presidents' Award (1981)1

Electrical engineering
''See also IEEE Daniel E. Noble Award (previously named the Morris N. Liebmann Award, 1919), IET Achievement Medals (1987),  IEEE/RSE James Clerk Maxwell Medal (2007). ''
 * IEEE Medal of Honor (1917)
 * Faraday Medal (1922)
 * Edison Medal (1909)

Engineering

 * Charles Stark Draper Prize (1989)
 * John Fritz Medal (1902)
 * Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering (2013)

Mechanical engineering

 * ASME Medal (1921)
 * Timoshenko Medal (1957)
 * James Watt International Gold Medal (1937)

Automation/control/cybernetics
See also Rufus Oldenburger Medal (1968), IEEE Simon Ramo Medal (1984).
 * IEEE Control Systems Award (1982)
 * Giorgio Quazza Medal (1981)
 * Hendrik W. Bode Lecture Prize (1989)
 * Richard E. Bellman Control Heritage Award (1979)

Communications
See also IEEE Communications Society Edwin Howard Armstrong Achievement Award (1958), IEEE Eric E. Sumner Award (1997).
 * Marconi Prize (1975)
 * IEEE Alexander Graham Bell Medal (1976)

For communication networks, see also IEEE Koji Kobayashi Computers and Communications Award (1988), SIGCOMM Award (1989), SIGMOBILE Outstanding Contribution Award (1996), IEEE Internet Award (2000), SIGMETRICS Achievement Award (2003).

Computer science
1: The Computer Pioneer Award recognizes significant contributions to concepts and developments in the electronic computer field which have clearly advanced the state of the art in computing. The award focuses on the achievements of the concrete implementations which were made at least fifteen years earlier and have become major milestones in computer history.
 * Turing Award (1966)
 * IEEE John von Neumann Medal (1992)
 * Computer Pioneer Award (1981)1
 * IMU Abacus Medal (1982)2

2: The IMU Abacus Medal is awarded once every four years to a mathematician/computer scientist under 40 years of age on the occasion of the International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM). It was called as Rolf Nevanlinna Prize from 1982 to 2018 and honored 10 recipients in total. The award focuses on the mathematical and theoretical aspects of computer science. See also ACM Prize in Computing (2007) to distinguished early to mid-career computer scientists, Milner Award (2012) exclusively to European researchers.

Information technology

 * W. Wallace McDowell Award (1966)
 * C&C Prize (1985)
 * Mountbatten Medal (1992)

Information theory

 * Claude E. Shannon Award (1972)
 * IEEE Richard W. Hamming Medal (1988)

Quantum information science
1: The Rolf Landauer and Charles H. Bennett Award is sponsored by the American Physical Society and partially endowed by IBM. It recognizes outstanding research in quantum information processing over the past 10 years performed by a quantum scientist who has received a PhD degree within 12 years.
 * International Quantum Communication Award (1996)
 * Micius Quantum Prize (2018)
 * Rolf Landauer and Charles H. Bennett Award in Quantum Computing (2017)1

Robotics

 * Joseph F. Engelberger Robotics Award (1977)
 * IEEE Robotics and Automation Award (2004)

Technology
There are two other technology awards also sometimes referred to as a "Nobel":
 * Millennium Technology Prize (2004)
 * Lemelson–MIT Prize (1995), which is dubbed as the "Nobel Prize of inventing" or "Oscar for inventors", awarded to outstanding mid-career inventors who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents, and have received a bachelor's degree within 25 years, as well as Lemelson–MIT Lifetime Achievement Award (awarded from 1995 to 2006), which recognized distinguished inventors whose pioneering spirit and inventiveness throughout their careers improved society and inspired others
 * Honda Prize (1980), an international award that acknowledges the efforts of an individual or group who contribute new ideas which may lead the next generation in the field of ecotechnology, sometimes referred to as the "Nobel Prize in technology" since it has put a spotlight on achievements in a variety of fields based on a wide perspective in the future, including two Turing-awarded artificial intelligence accomplishments

Astronomy
See also Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society (1824), Bruce Medal (1898), Dannie Heineman Prize for Astrophysics (1980), Viktor Ambartsumian International Prize (2010).
 * Kavli Prize in Astrophysics (2008)
 * Carl Sagan Medal
 * Valz Prize
 * Gruber Prize in Cosmology (2000)
 * Crafoord Prize in Astronomy (1985)
 * Shaw Prize in Astronomy (2004)

Energy research

 * ENI Award (2008)
 * Fermi Award (1956)
 * Global Energy Prize (2003)

Materials research

 * Von Hippel Award (1976)
 * MRS Medal (1990)

Nanoscience
See also IEEE Cledo Brunetti Award (1978), Pioneer Award in Nanotechnology (2007), ISNSCE Nanoscience Prize (2008), RUSNANOPRIZE Nanotechnology International Prize (2009).
 * Kavli Prize in Nanoscience (2008)
 * Feynman Prize in Nanotechnology (1993)

Operations research

 * John von Neumann Theory Prize (1975)

Optics/photonics
''See also Rumford Medal (1800) and Rumford Prize (1839), which recognize significant achievements in either of the fields of heat and light. Other prestigious optics and photonics awards include Thomas Young Medal and Prize (1963, succeeding the Thomas Young Oration since 1907), Rank Prize in Optoelectronics (1976),  ZEISS Research Award (1990). ''
 * Frederic Ives Medal/Jarus W. Quinn Prize (1929)
 * IEEE Photonics Award (2004)
 * SPIE Gold Medal (1977)

''For quantum electronics and optics, see also IEEE Photonics Society Quantum Electronics Award (1978), Charles Hard Townes Award (1981), LIA Arthur L. Schawlow Award (1982), Arthur L. Schawlow Prize in Laser Science (1991), EPS-QEOD Quantum Electronics Prizes (1996), Willis E. Lamb Award for Laser Science and Quantum Optics (1998). Some other related awards include Frank Isakson Prize for Optical Effects in Solids (1980), I. I. Rabi Prize (1991), Joseph Thomson Medal and Prize (2008), Norman F. Ramsey Prize (2018).''

Bioengineering

 * Russ Prize (2001)
 * Robert A. Pritzker Distinguished Lecture Award (1991)

Biology/ecology

 * Crafoord Prize in Biosciences (1984)

Biomedicine
Note: These distinguished awards are also regarded as significant markers for future Nobels. Other prestigious biomedical science awards include Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize (1952), Robert Koch Prize (1960), Louis-Jeantet Prize (1986), Warren Alpert Foundation Prize (1987),   Keio Medical Science Prize (1996), Massry Prize (1996),  Albany Medical Center Prize (2001),   Wiley Prize (2002), etc. See also King Faisal Prize (1982), Heineken Prizes (1989), Shaw Prize (2004), BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Awards (2008), Breakthrough Prize (2013), Tang Prize (2014), etc.
 * Lasker Award (1946)
 * Canada Gairdner Award (1959)
 * Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize
 * Warren Alpert Foundation Prize
 * UNESCO Science Prize
 * Wolf Prize in Medicine (1978)

Cognitive science

 * Rumelhart Prize (2001)
 * Jean Nicod Prize (1993) recognizes top research in philosophically oriented cognitive sciences and the philosophy of mind.

Conservation biology

 * Indianapolis Prize (2006)
 * BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Ecology and Conservation Biology (2008)

Dentistry/oral sciences

 * IADR Gold Medal (2018)
 * IADR Distinguished Scientist Award (1960)

Environmental epidemiology

 * John Goldsmith Award

Neuroscience

 * Brain Prize (2011)

Nursing

 * Florence Nightingale Medal (1920)

Optometry

 * Glenn A. Fry Award

Pharmaceutical research

 * Prix Galien Award

Psychology

 * Grawemeyer Award (2001)
 * Kurt-Koffka Medal (2008)

Agriculture

 * Wolf Prize in Agriculture (1978)
 * World Food Prize (1987)
 * Bertebos Prize (1997)

Atmospheric science

 * Carl-Gustaf Rossby Research Medal (1951)

Earth science
See also 'Geology' below, as well as Gold Medal in Geophysics (1824), Arthur L. Day Medal (1948), Arthur L. Day Prize and Lectureship (1972).
 * Crafoord Prize in Geosciences (1983)

Environmental science

 * Blue Planet Prize (1992)
 * Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement (1974)

Forestry

 * Marcus Wallenberg Prize (1981)

Geography
1: The Vega Medal is awarded by the Swedish Society for Anthropology and Geography (SSAG), whose highest patron is the King of Sweden. The SSAG awards the Vega Medal to an outstanding physical geographer roughly every three years, presented by the King. The SSAG also awards another Gold Medal (called Anders Retzius Medal before 2015) to world-leading scholars in human geography and anthropology.
 * Vautrin Lud Prize (1991)
 * Vega Medal (1881)1

Geology

 * Vetlesen Prize (1960)
 * Wollaston Medal (1831)
 * Penrose Medal (1927)

Hydrology

 * International Hydrology Prize (1981)
 * Robert E. Horton Medal (1976)

Limnology

 * Naumann-Thienemann Medal (1930)

Meteorology

 * International Meteorological Organization Prize (1956)

Oceanography

 * A.G. Huntsman Award for Excellence in the Marine Sciences (1980)
 * Alexander Agassiz Medal (1913)

Soil science

 * Dokuchaev Award

Sustainability

 * Katerva Award

There are two other environmental awards often referred to as a "Nobel":
 * Goldman Environmental Prize (1990) for environmental activism, often referred to as the "Green Nobel"
 * Stockholm Water Prize (1991) for water-related achievements, known as the "Nobel Prize of water"

Anthropology

 * Huxley Memorial Medal and Lecture (1900)
 * The Swedish Society for Anthropology and Geography (SSAG), whose highest patron is the King of Sweden, awards a Gold Medal (called Retzius Medal before 2015) to world-leading scholars in anthropology and human geography.

Architecture
See also 'Arts' below.
 * Pritzker Prize (1979)
 * Royal Gold Medal
 * European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture

Arts
See also 'Architecture' and 'Nobel Prize in Literature' above, and 'Design', 'Music', and 'Photography' below.
 * Praemium Imperiale, includes award categories in painting, sculpture, architecture, music, and a single film and theatre category.
 * Wolf Prize in Arts (1981)

Criminology

 * Stockholm Prize in Criminology (2006)

Design

 * Red Dot Design Award

Economics
1: The Clark Medal is awarded annually (biennially before 2009) to an economist under 40 years of age who work in the U.S. at the time of the award, regardless of his/her nationality. The Clark is known as the "Baby Nobel" in economics because around a third of the medalists have gone on to win the Nobel, the average age of whose laureates approaches 70 when they were awarded the prize. Similar prizes for young talent economists in the world include the Yrjö Jahnsson Award (1993), the European equivalent awarded to European economists under 45 years of age; the Nakahara Prize (1995) awarded to Japanese economists under 45 years of age; the Gossen Prize (1997) awarded to German-speaking economists under 45 years of age; the Prix du Meilleur Jeune Économiste de France (2000) awarded to French economists under 40 years of age; and the Assar Lindbeck Medal (2007) awarded to Swedish economists under 45 years of age.
 * Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences (1969)
 * John Bates Clark Medal (1947)1
 * Erwin Plein Nemmers Prize in Economics (1994)
 * John von Neumann Award (1995)2

2: The John von Neumann Award, which honors professors with top contributions to economics and social sciences, is distinguished from other scientific awards on the basis that it is given by students. The students at the Rajk László College for Advanced Studies (Budapest, Hungary), which is a self governing community of about 100 selected students living together, elect the nominees and vote for the prize-winner in the Assembly of the College after a review and debate regarding the candidates every year. Recipients are invited to the college to receive the award, give an open lecture and hold a master class. It also needs to be noted that there are three other prizes named after Hungarian–American polymath John von Neumann in this prize list, the SIAM John von Neumann Lecture (1960) for distinguished contributions to the field of applied mathematical sciences, the IEEE John von Neumann Medal (1992) for outstanding achievements in computer-related science and technology, and the INFORMS John von Neumann Theory Prize (1975) for fundamental and sustained contributions to theory in operations research and the management sciences.

Education

 * Karolinska Prize for Research in Medical Education (2004)
 * WISE Prize
 * Yidan Prize is the world's most prestigious award in educational research.

Entrepreneurship

 * Global Award for Entrepreneurship Research (1996)

Film
See also 'Arts' above.
 * Academy Awards (1929)

Finance
1: The Fischer Black Prize is awarded biennially to a finance economist who is either under 40 years of age, or under 45 years of age but not have been awarded a Ph.D. (or equivalent) by age 35.
 * Deutsche Bank Prize in Financial Economics (2005)
 * IAQF Financial Engineer of the Year (1993)
 * Fischer Black Prize (2003)1

Geography
See the section on Geosciences, Agricultural Sciences and Environmental Sciences awards above for prizes focused exclusively on physical geography.
 * Vautrin Lud Prize (1991)
 * The Swedish Society for Anthropology and Geography (SSAG), whose highest patron is the King of Sweden, awards a Gold Medal (called Retzius Medal before 2015) to world-leading scholars in human geography and anthropology.

Human rights

 * Martin Ennals Award (1994)

Humanities
See also 'Philosophy' below.
 * Kluge Prize (2003)

Journalism

 * Pulitzer Prize

Linguistics

 * Neil and Saras Smith Medal for Linguistics (2014)

Literature
See also 'Prizes sponsored by the Nobel Foundation' above.
 * Hans Christian Andersen Award for writers and illustrators of children's literature. The writer award is sometimes referred to as the 'little Nobel'.

Music/musicology
See also 'Arts' above.
 * Ernst von Siemens Music Prize (1972)
 * Polar Music Prize (1989)
 * Gramophone Classical Music Awards
 * Diapason d'Or
 * Picasso Medal

Painting
See 'Arts' above.

Philosophy
See also 'Humanities' above.
 * Berggruen Philosophy Prize (2016)
 * Rolf Schock Prize (1993)
 * Jean Nicod Prize recognizes top research in the philosophy of mind and philosophically oriented cognitive sciences.

Photography

 * Hasselblad Award (1980)

Political science

 * Johan Skytte Prize in Political Science (1995)

Public service/public administration

 * United Nations Public Service Awards (2003)

Records and Information Management
1: The Emmett Leahy Award is given annually to individuals who have had major impact on the field of information management. The award has been given since 1967, and honors Emmett Leahy, a pioneer in records management.
 * Emmett Leahy Award (1967)1

Sculpture
See 'Arts' above.

Social sciences/sociology
For awards focused on specific social science disciplines, see for example 'Anthropology', 'Criminology', 'Economics', 'Geography', and 'Political Science' above, and 'Urbanism' below. 1: Since the 1990s, the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics has been considered a general award in the social sciences (not just economics).
 * Holberg Prize (2003)
 * Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences1
 * Stein Rokkan Prize for Comparative Social Science Research (1981)

Theatre
See 'Arts' above.
 * Tony Awards

Tourism

 * UNWTO Ulysses Prize (2003)

Urbanism

 * Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize (2010)

Religion

 * Templeton Prize (1973)

Sports

 * Laureus World Sports Awards