No longer in the USA because of Trump The iconic Ig Nobel Prizes will be awarded in Zurich this year
The Ig Nobel Prizes for Curious Research have been held in the USA for 35 years. Now the organizers are moving the gala to Zurich - for a serious reason.
11.03.2026, 05:37
11.03.2026, 05:39
dpa
The Ig Nobel Prizes for Curious Research will no longer be held in the USA in future to protect the guests. After 35 years in Boston, Massachusetts, the 36th Ig Nobel Prizes will be awarded in Zurich in September in collaboration with the ETH and the University of Zurich, the organizers announced. Subsequently, the event will be held every two years in Zurich and in other European cities in the years in between, the organizers added.
With regard to the political situation in the USA, Marc Abrahams, main organizer and host of the gala, said: "In the past year, it has become risky for our guests to visit this country." He added: "We cannot in good conscience ask either the new winners or the international journalists covering this event to travel to the US this year."
The Ig Nobel Prizes are awarded for particularly bizarre scientific research, which - according to the organizers - should first make people laugh and then make them think. "Ignoble", for which the abbreviation "Ig" stands, means "ignoble" in German. The awards are presented at a big gala with lots of comedy. The organizer is the journal for curious research "Annals of Improbable Research".
