Ig Nobel Prizes leave US over safety concerns and move to Europe

The annual celebration of unconventional scientific discovery has officially crossed the Atlantic. After thirty-five years of staging its ceremony in the United States, the Ig Nobel Prizes took place at the Zurich Convention Center in Zurich, Switzerland, marking the first time the event has been hosted outside the US.

The relocation was driven by growing safety concerns for international travelers and attendees facing difficulties visiting the US. According to AP News coverage, organizers noted that international participants were increasingly reluctant to make the trip, with a significant fraction of previous winners opting to skip the ceremony entirely rather than risk traveling across the Atlantic. Marc Abrahams, master of ceremonies and editor of the satirical magazine Annals of Improbable Research, explained the stark reality behind the move.

Media additions

"During the past year, it has become unsafe for our guests to visit the country. We cannot in good conscience ask the new winners, or the international journalists who cover the event, to travel to the US this year."

Marc Abrahams, Master of Ceremonies and Editor, via AP News and Ars Technica

Established in the early 1990s as a good-natured parody of the traditional Nobel Prizes, the Ig Nobels honor achievements that first make people laugh and then make them think. This year's ceremony featured trademark elements of the campy tradition, including audience members hurling paper airplanes toward the stage, miniature operas, and the notorious "24/7 lectures" where experts must explain their complex research twice: once in twenty-four seconds and again in just seven words, alongside strict sixty-second limits on acceptance speeches as detailed by Ars Technica.

Among the ten research teams honored on Thursday, September 3, 2026, was an evolutionary biology group that secured a biomechanics prize for establishing a precise, cross-species definition of kissing. Matilda Brindle of the University of Oxford, working alongside colleagues, defined the act as a non-agonistic interaction involving directed, intraspecific, oral-oral contact with movement of the mouthparts and no food transfer. As Nature reported, the team's analysis traced this behavior back millions of years to the common ancestor of large apes, suggesting that ancient humans likely smooched Neanderthals.

Other winning projects explored equally eclectic corners of science. A soil-science team was recognized for burying one thousand pairs of cotton underwear across dozens of countries to investigate decomposition rates and soil health, even presenting physical samples to actual Nobel laureates on stage. Additional winning entries included investigations into cockroach milk proteins, the aerodynamics of nose-blowing by the late Dr. Tokuji Unno, and fluid dynamics research aimed at designing a splash-free urinal.

Organizers have outlined a rotating continental schedule that will mirror international music contests. More World coverage highlights how international events navigate logistical and geopolitical friction, and the Ig Nobels are adapting by planting firm roots abroad.

Future Ceremony Schedule

• September 3, 2026: Inaugural European ceremony held at the Zurich Convention Center in Zurich, Switzerland.
• 2027: The annual ceremony will travel to Antwerp, Flanders.
• 2028 and beyond: The event will return to Zurich and is planned to be held in a European city every even-numbered year thereafter, with no immediate plans to return to the US.

As winners prepare to deliver free public talks hosted on the Improbable Research website in the coming weeks, attention will also turn back toward traditional scientific accolades. The genuine Nobel Prizes will be announced in October, concluding a busy autumn for the global scientific community as reported by AP News.