For the first time, the Igbo Prize was decided to be held in Europe instead of the USA
The annual Ignobel Prize, a satirical award for unusual scientific achievements, has been moved from the United States to Europe for the first time. Organizers say it’s because participants may face difficulties obtaining American visas. The Associated Press reports.
The 36th awards ceremony is scheduled to be held in Zurich, Switzerland. The event is traditionally held in the United States in September, about a few weeks before the Nobel Prize winners are announced.
The decision to change the venue was made against the backdrop of Donald Trump’s tougher immigration policy. It includes large-scale deportations of migrants who are in the country illegally, as well as increased checks on holders of student and visitor visas.
For the previous 35 years, laureates have come to the United States to receive their awards. However, last year, four out of ten winners decided not to travel to Boston for the ceremony. In different years, the event was held at Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Boston University.
“Last year, it became unsafe for our guests to visit the country. So we cannot in good conscience ask the new laureates or the international journalists covering the event to travel to the United States this year.
Switzerland has given the world many unexpectedly good things – from Albert Einstein’s physics to the global economy and the zozule clock – and is once again helping the world appreciate incredible people and ideas,” said Marc Abrahams, the host of the ceremony and editor of the Annals of Improbable Research journal.
According to the organizer, the ceremony in Zurich is planned to be held every two years. In the years between these events, the awards may be moved to other European cities. There are currently no plans to return the ceremony to the United States.
The Ignoble Prize is a humorous analogue of the Nobel Prize, awarded to authors of research that “first makes people laugh and then thinks.” The name of the award comes from the English word ignoble, which means “unworthy”.
The 35th Ignoble Prize ceremony took place on September 18, 2025. The awards were received by scientists in ten categories, including chemistry, physics, literature, and pediatrics.
