Students' Nobel NightCap History
Every year since 1978
Students' Nobel NightCap, SNNC, is the continuation of the Nobel Banquet on 10 December. It is arranged entirely by university students and is run on a purely voluntary basis. Since the start in 1978, the party has grown and is today an established part of Nobel Week, and something that most of the guests at the Nobel Banquet visit. Here, the Nobel laureates and their guests are given a chance to relax from the constant press during Nobel Week and at the same time the students get an opportunity to take part in the celebration, as well as the legacy of Alfred Nobel. In addition to Nobel laureates and students, the event is also visited by academics, politicians and other prominent people.
Unlike the banquet, no journalists are invited, and photography is prohibited. The same dress code prevails as during the rest of the Nobel party. The event is bordered by a secret theme that is only revealed when guests enter the venue.
The four student unions of the biggest universities in Stockholm; Stockholm University, Royal Institute of Technology, Karolinska Instituet and Stockholm School of Economics, take turns arranging Students' Nobel NightCap. Thus, each university gets the chance to arrange the event every fourth year.
- Medicinska Föreningen
After the cancelation of 2020, and a long 7 year wait, this year will be hosted in Sweden's Largest Technical University.
2022 saw the return of the party and now we have the chance to have a New Year, New Party.
After two years of pandemic, SNNC is coming back with a lot to celebrate. Laureates from 2020, 2021 and 2022 will be in attendence accompagnied by four times as many guests as 1990.
SNNC got canceled two years in a row which was deeply unfortunate but understandable. The good news is, SNNC 2022 will now have more engagement than ever.
The 2019 Student Nobel Nightcap was documented by Josefin Agnekrans. It was a celebration at which Didier Queloz, William G. Kaelin Jr, Sir Peter J. Ratcliffe, Esther Duflo, Abhijit Banerjee and many other Nobel winners of that year attended. The link to the youtube video.
The first ever official SNNC soundtrack was produced by one of the Entertainment Area Coordinators, Kian Sang. The Nobel Night- Cap was also featured on Japanese TV for the first time as well as twice on National Swedish TV.
In 2002 the number of sponsors exceeded 100 companies. The committee started the search for sponsors through contacting all companies with the word "Nobel" in it. Later they expanded the scope and partnered with: Baker & McKenzie, Microsoft, Nobel Biocare, Casino Cosmopol, ABB, Scania, Akzo Nobel, Swedish Match, Astra Zeneca, Tetra Pak, Investor, Universum, Handelshögskolan along with 100+ smaller contributors.
Over the years, the surprise themes have become an appreciated and integral part of the Nobel NightCap. Since the rest of the celebrations are the same by tradition, the surprise theme is an exciting unknown and has ranged from Bellman in 1990 to the Human Body and Marie-Antoinette goes Lady Gaga 2009 and 2011 respectively.
In 1978, Mats Nyqvist, an SSE student could not fathom that the Nobel party, ended at midnight. So he decided to organize the first ever SNNC party, and that is how our beloved party came to be!
