1. Limited nomination period
    The online form for nominating candidates for next year’s prize is opened in mid-October, with the deadline for submission on 31 January. .
  2. Sorting and validation
    Nominations are sorted, and all nominations received are checked for validity.
  3. Committee hand-over
    Valid nominations submitted by the January 31 deadline are handed over to the Nobel Committee in mid-February.
  4. Short-list
    The Nobel Committee reviews all valid nominations and prepares a short-list for further examination.
  5. External analysis
    Candidate reports are submitted by the Committee's permanent advisers and other Norwegian or international experts.
  6. Deliberations
    The Committee meets regularly from mid-February through September to discuss and steadily narrow the field of candidates.
  7. The Committee decides
    The Norwegian Nobel Committee decides who will be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
  8. Announcement
    The Nobel Peace Prize laureate is announced on the Friday of the first full week of October.

 

In practice, the nomination process lasts from mid-October, when the submission form is posted, till the deadline on 31. January. The nominations are carefully screened for validity, before a long list of nominations is presented to the Norwegian Nobel Committee, whose members may also nominate themselves in their first meeting. With nomination closed, the decision-making process gets underway.

The five-member Norwegian Nobel Committee is the decision-makers. It meets regularly from the latter half of February, goes meticulously through all nominations, and selects those which it want to consider more carefully. The selected candidates are then assessed by independent experts, who prepare detailed reports that are circulated to the committee ahead of its meetings. This is an iterative process, where the list gradually is shortened, and new assessments are solicited in each round. The Committee may, at any stage, reach back and reconsider candidates not shortlisted, as long as there is a valid nomination. By summer, the shortlist is normally cut down to a handful of candidates. 

Eventually, sometime between mid-August and late September, the Committee makes its decision. Consensus is common, but it a simple majority vote is sufficient. The decision is final and without appeal. The name(s) of that year's Nobel Peace Prize Laureate(s) is then announced.

The annual Nobel Peace Prize Award Ceremony takes place in the Oslo City Hall on 10 December. At the ceremony, the the Nobel Lecture is delivered by the Laureate(s), and the Laureate(s) receives the Nobel Medal and Diploma.