Among the favourites to be awarded the prestigious prize are a group of Chinese dissidents.
Speculation has continued over the last few years that the prize committee will take the deeply political step to award the prize to those opposed to the communist regime.
This year, however, the talk is even greater with 2009 witnessing the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre and the 60 years since the establishment of the People's Republic of China.
Among those suggested as the potential winner include Hu Jia the human rights activist and outspoken critic of the Chinese government.
Another is Wei Jingsheng who spent 17 years in Chinese prisons for urging reforms to the country's communist system.
Chinese dissidents were favourites to be awarded the Nobel prize last year. Instead the committee decided to honour Finland's ex-president Martti Ahtisaari for his work as a peace mediator.
US president Barack Obama is also reported to be on the short-list of nominees, which this year includes over 200 individuals.
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