About the Ig Nobel Prizes

“The Stinker”, official mascot of the Ig Nobel Prizes
The Ig Nobel Prizes honor achievements that make people LAUGH, then THINK. The prizes are intended to celebrate the unusual, honor the imaginative — and spur people’s interest in science, medicine, and technology.
Every September, in a gala ceremony in Harvard University’s Sanders Theatre, 1100 splendidly eccentric spectators watch the new winners step forward to accept their Prizes. These are physically handed out by genuine (and genuinely bemused) Nobel Laureates. Thousands more, around the world, watch the live broadcast online.
The ceremony: The 30th First Annual Ig Nobel Prize ceremony happened on September 17, 2020. Because of the Covid-19 epidemic, it was entirely online.
List of Ig Nobel Prize winners |
Archive page—videos and details of past ceremonies and operas |
“Last, but not least, there are the Ig Nobel awards. These come with little cash, but much cachet, and reward those research projects that ‘first make people laugh, and then make them think'”
— Nature
“It’s like the weirdest f-ing thing that you’ll ever go to… it’s a collection of, like, actual Nobel Prize winners giving away prizes to real scientists for doing f’d-up things… it’s awesome.”
—Amanda Palmer
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