Ig Nobel Awards Move to Europe Amid US Visa Concerns

The Ig Nobel Prizes, a satirical award recognizing unusual or humorous scientific achievements, will be held in Europe for the first time in its 36-year history. This relocation is a direct response to increasing difficulties international attendees have faced obtaining US travel visas, organizers announced on Monday, March 10, 2026.

Visa Issues Prompt Relocation

Traditionally held in the United States at venues like Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Ig Nobel ceremony has turn into a casualty of stricter US immigration policies. Marc Abrahams, master of ceremonies and editor of the Annals of Improbable Research, explained that the decision was made since it had become “unsafe for our guests to visit the country.” He added, “We cannot in good conscience ask the new winners, or the international journalists who cover the event, to travel to the USA this year.” Source: Kare11

Zurich to Host the 36th Ceremony

The 36th annual Ig Nobel ceremony will take place in Zurich, Switzerland, on September 3, 2026, hosted by the ETH Domain and the University of Zurich. Abrahams noted that Switzerland “has nurtured many unexpected good things—Albert Einstein’s physics, the world economy, and the cuckoo clock leap to mind—and is again helping the world appreciate improbable people and ideas.” Source: Le Monde

A Rotating European Host

The move to Europe is not intended as a one-time solution. Organizers plan for Zurich to host the ceremony every other year, with different European cities taking turns in odd-numbered years, mirroring the format of the Eurovision Song Contest. Source: Le Monde

About the Ig Nobel Prizes

Established in 1991 by Marc Abrahams, the Ig Nobel Prize is an annual parody of the Nobel Prize. It aims to “honor achievements that first make people laugh, and then make them feel.” Source: Wikipedia The awards are presented by Nobel laureates and recognize genuine scientific research with an unconventional or humorous twist. Winners receive a symbolic prize of 10 trillion Zimbabwean dollars (equivalent to approximately US$0.40, though the banknote’s collector value exceeds its face value). Source: Wikipedia

Recent Ig Nobel Prize winners include researchers who investigated whether painting cows with zebra stripes could deter biting flies. Source: Wikipedia