The promotion of science and technology has a long tradition in the Baltic Sea Region. Being home to some of the oldest universities in Europe, the region has provided an environment of intellectual prosperity since the 15th century, leading to many important discoveries in the field of science.

A good example of the great significance of the research carried out in the region is the history of the astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus. Born in the Polish city of Torun in 1473, Copernicus was the first astronomer to work out a heliocentric theory of the solar system. This revolutionary theory was published in his book "De revolutionibus orbium coelestium" - the result of many years of hard work - and only came out in the year of Copernicus’ death. The basic thought of his theory was that the earth is not situated in the centre of the universe, but rather that it is one planet of many revolving around the sun in the course of a year. Contradicting the Bible and religious dogma, Copernicus’ theory was only fully accepted during the 17th century when further discoveries were made, proving the validity of the heliocentric system.

Since the Baltic Sea Region has traditionally been a region of scientific research, the establishment of a prize rewarding special achievements within various fields such as Medicine, Literature, Physics and Chemistry can be seen as a logical consequence of these efforts. The Nobel Prizes for the aforementioned categories have been awarded by four Swedish commissions every year since 1901, and are probably the most important commendation one can receive in these fields. A fifth category, Economics, was added by the Swedish National Bank in 1968. The Peace Prize is conferred by an independent commission elected by the Norwegian parliament, a tradition that remains from the period when Sweden and Norway were still united under one monarch. The name of the Nobel Prize goes back to the Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel who initiated the awarding in his will. The preparation for the Nobel Prize ceremony held to honour the prize winners often turns out to be rather stressful for the male laureates, since it is mandatory for them to wear a black tailcoat - a piece of clothing which can be quite hard to acquire outside Scandinavia.

If we ask ourselves where potential winners of a Nobel Prize might come from in the Baltic Sea Region, the Öresund region could prove to be a good guess. This densely populated metropolitan area (3.5 million inhabitants) on the Swedish and the Danish side of the Sound has developed into a region of intense technology and knowledge transfer since the Öresund Committee was founded in 2000 - right after the Öresund Bridge was opened, linking the two sides after centuries of division by state borders. Four main areas of activity are of primary concern for the Committee, which serves as an umbrella organization for smaller networks: biotechnology, IT, food and environment. These areas are worked on at 14 different universities, several innovation parks and a number of multinational and small-scale businesses. This high concentration in such a small region has led to it often being considered one of the most productive in Europe in terms of scientific output.