The phone call from the Nobel Committee that changes lives
It's a life-altering moment when the Nobel Committee rings - if the winners pick up
Some Nobel laureates find out while on a plane, others think it's a hoax, and some don't even hear the phone ring.
On Tuesday, French physicist Professor Serge Haroche was out walking with his wife when his cellphone rang. He saw the 46 country code on the display and recognised it immediately as a call from Sweden. For a top scientist, a call from Sweden in early October can mean only one thing: a Nobel dream come true.
"I was in the street, passing near a bench, and was able to sit down immediately," he told journalists via a live link to Stockholm, describing the honour as "fairly overwhelming".
US researcher Professor Robert Lefkowitz, who shared this year's chemistry prize with Professor Brian Kobilka, admitted he had not heard the phone ringing when the call came through.
"I was fast asleep and the phone rang. I did not hear it. I must share with you that I wear ear plugs to sleep, and so my wife gave me an elbow: 'phone for you'. And there it was. A total shock and surprise," he said.
Kobilka said he found out around 2.30am on Wednesday after the Nobel committee called his home twice. He said he didn't get to the phone the first time, but that when he picked up the second time, he spoke to five members of the committee.
The prize-awarding academies make every effort to contact the winners about a half an hour before the official announcement is made. The work honoured in the science fields - medicine, physics and chemistry - is often groundbreaking research done decades ago that has over the years led to advances in the respective areas.