The prize money given to Nobel laureates is to be cut by a fifth, the foundation behind the prestigious awards has said, after a decade of overspending that has stretched its finances.
The Nobel Foundation said the money for the awards, given for excellence in the fields of science, literature and peace, would fall to 8 million Swedish kroner (€900,000).
The capital that forms the base for the awards was donated in the will of dynamite inventor Alfred Nobel and is managed by the foundation, which was set up in 1900.
The foundation said in a statement that costs had exceeded returns from interest and investments on the capital over the past decade, making it necessary to lower the prize money from the previous 10 million crowns. – (Reuters)