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Nobel Prize in physics to be announced as award week continues

 
The Nobel Prize in Physics is set to be announced on Tuesday, the second in the series of prestigious awards handed out for outstanding human achievements each year.

This year's Nobel week kicked off with the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine on Monday, which was awarded to US scientists Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun for their 'groundbreaking' discovery of micro RNA, a new class of tiny RNA molecules that play a crucial role in gene regulation.

Next up is physics, with the laureate or laureates set to be unveiled by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm from 11:45 am(0845 GMT).

Last year, the academy awarded the prestigious prize to three researchers, Pierro Agostini, Ferenc Krausz and Anne L'Huillier fortheir experiments that 'have given humanity new tools for exploring the world of electrons inside atoms and molecules.'

The remaining awards to be announced this week are in chemistry and literature, followed by the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday and the economics prize on Monday.

The prizes themselves are due to be handed over on December 10, the anniversary of the death of Alfred Nobel (1833-96), inventor of dynamite and benefactor of the prizes.

This year, the awards are endowed with 11 million Swedish krona (justover $1 million dollars) per category.