Picture: Auke-Florian Hiemstra
The Ig Nobel Prizes honour achievements so surprising that they make people laugh, then think. The prizes are intended to celebrate the unusual, honour the imaginative — and spur people’s interest in science, medicine, and technology.
But after more than three decades of calling Cambridge, Massachusetts its home, the Ig Nobel Prize ceremony is relocating to Europe.
EUSJA invited Marc Abrahams, founder and editor of the Annals of Improbable Research and emcee of the awards to discuss the decision to move. He was joined by Kees Moeliker, who runs the journal’s European bureau and is a biologist who holds one of the most unforgettable prizes ever handed out.
A Move Born of Necessity
The decision to move the ceremony wasn’t made lightly. For nearly thirty years, the annual September event took place at Harvard University, having previously been held at MIT since its inception in 1991. But circumstances have shifted.
“The situation in the United States is much worse than you probably see in the news,” Abrahams explained. He noted that last September, four of ten prize winners decided it wasn’t safe to travel to the US. With most potential winners expressing similar concerns, organisers realised they could no longer hold the ceremony in America.
“We simply cannot do it in the US now,” he said. Instead, the Ig Nobels will now be held in Zurich, Switzerland. There are plans to alternate every two years between Switzerland and other European nations.
Why Zurich?
Abrahams credited strong support from local institutions in Switzerland. Within roughly two months of initial discussions, they had the necessary arrangements in place. “The speed of the response… was incredible,” he said. “It was much quicker than we expected.”
Moeliker, whose role has expanded since winning his own prize, echoed the sentiment. As European Bureau Chief for Improbable Research, he’s been instrumental in the transition. He described the effort as “a giant engineering project,” but one that’s proven joyful, with new international relationships forming throughout the process.
The Famous Duck That Started It All
Moeliker’s own award remains one of the ceremony’s legendary moments. In 2003, he received the Ig Nobel Prize in Biology for documenting homosexual necrophilia in Mallard ducks—a discovery made while working as curator at the Natural History Museum in Rotterdam. The dead duck had apparently been crushed into a glass building extension, and a live male duck proceeded to mount it for seventy-five minutes.
The observation eventually led to a formal paper—and ultimately, an Ig Nobel. Since then, he’s remained deeply involved, helping establish Improbable Research’s European bureau around 2004-2005. His experience reflects the ceremony’s broader appeal: scientists generally receive the awards with good humour. “In my twenty-five years, I’ve never had any people who started shouting at me or close the phone immediately,” Abrahams added.
What’s Changing, What’s Staying
Despite the transatlantic move, organisers aim to preserve the ceremony’s character. Paper aeroplane throwing will likely continue, along with the tradition of making science accessible and amusing. One beloved feature of an eight-year-old child who walks across stage to tell long-winded speakers “please stop, I’m bored” won’t return this year. Finding such children reliably has become complicated, so a replacement mechanism will be used instead.
Tickets for the inaugural Zurich event sold out in under a week, suggesting appetite for the event remains strong despite the venue change. Webcasts will also remain available, continuing a practice established in 1995.
Science, Satire, and Curiosity
At its core, the Ig Nobel Prize celebrates research that first makes people laugh, then makes them think. “If we choose well, the thing itself is so interesting that anybody will want to themselves go out and find more,” Abrahams said. The ceremony highlights work often overlooked or dismissed—yet frequently reveals deeper scientific questions beneath the surface humour.
With approximately 9,000 nominations arriving annually, the selection process involves lengthy debates over wording, translation resilience, and ensuring each citation captures the essence of the work clearly. Moeliker noted how his own duck study, once downloaded just three times, now attracts thousands of views following his award—demonstrating the prize’s power to drive public engagement with scientific inquiry.
Looking Ahead
While the future remains uncertain regarding whether the ceremony will ever return to the US, current plans keep it firmly in Europe for the foreseeable future. Odd-numbered years will rotate to different European countries, though exact destinations beyond Switzerland haven’t been finalised. Many cities have already expressed interest.
For now, attention turns to September’s event in Zurich—where curious minds from around the world will gather to celebrate science that dares to be strange.
For press release updates and ticket information for watching parties, contact organisers directly through the official Ig Nobel Prize website.