What is really special this year is that Beatrice Fihn who accepted the Nobel Peace Prize as the Executive Director for the anti-nuclear weapon organisation ICAN is an alumna of Stockholm University where she studied international relations – these studies led to an internship in Geneva that in turn led to the position with ICAN.

For an article in “DN Debatt” on Nobel Day, Åsa Wikforss, Professor of Theoretical Philosophy at Stockholm University, wrote about today’s focus in schools on students thinking for themselves and thinking critically. Instead, she argued for the importance of deep subject-based knowledge – which is needed both in schools and colleges. During Nobel Week, the focus isn’t only on the research presentations of the prize winners, but also on students. The students celebrate the Laureates in the Blue Hall at Stockholm City Hall and organise different events in their honour, such as the Student’s Nobel Night Cap. The Laureates appear in different venues for students and in the schools. It’s not uncommon, this year included, that the Laureates highlight in particular their engagement with education, often based in their first discovery of research in their own subjects. Research breakthroughs and critical thinking have one thing in common: they require good education producing solid knowledge.