Ig Nobel Awards Relocate to Europe Citing U.S. Safety Concerns Under Trump
The iconic Ig Nobel prizes, which have celebrated the lighter side of scientific research since 1991, are making a significant move from their long-time home in the United States to Europe. Organizers announced that the decision stems from growing safety concerns for international participants traveling to America under the Trump administration.
Safety Concerns Prompt Historic Move
Marc Abrahams, founder of the Ig Nobel awards, stated unequivocally that "during the past year, it has become unsafe for our guests to visit the country." The organization, which hosts loud, paper airplane-filled ceremonies that honor achievements that "first make people laugh, then make them think," can no longer in good conscience ask winners or international journalists to travel to the United States.
Abrahams explained that academics from around the world have expressed increasing apprehension about visiting America since President Donald Trump began his second term in office. This marks the first time in the awards' 35-year history that safety concerns have prompted such a dramatic relocation of the ceremony.
Switzerland Welcomes the Unconventional
The 36th annual Ig Nobel awards will be held in Zurich, Switzerland on September 3, 2026. The University of Zurich and ETH Domain (The Domain of the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology) will host the ceremony, with organizers praising Switzerland's ability to "rapidly move mountains" metaphorically to accommodate the event.
"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," Abrahams noted with characteristic humor.
A New European Home Base
The relocation isn't temporary. Organizers plan to establish Zurich as their primary base of operations, holding ceremonies there every even-numbered year while traveling to different European cities during odd-numbered years. Abrahams compared the new arrangement to "the Eurovision Song Contest," suggesting a rotating European celebration of silly science.
Milo Puhan, an epidemiologist at the University of Zurich who won a 2017 Ig Nobel for demonstrating that playing the didgeridoo can alleviate snoring, welcomed the move. "The Ig Nobel Prize makes research visible, and does so with a wink," he remarked, highlighting how the awards bring attention to scientific inquiry through humor.
The Legacy of Laughable Science
Despite their humorous nature, the Ig Nobel prizes enjoy serious respect within the scientific community. Actual Nobel laureates frequently participate in the ceremonies, often wearing outlandish hats while presenting awards to their less conventional counterparts.
Recent winners have included Japanese scientists who painted zebra stripes on cows to reduce fly bites and researchers from the University of Freiburg who demonstrated how alcohol consumption can improve foreign language pronunciation. Past notable recipients include Andre Geim and Michael Berry for levitating a frog with magnets, and a team that investigated why wombats produce cube-shaped feces.
The awards have traditionally been held at universities in Massachusetts, featuring their signature chaotic atmosphere where paper airplanes fly freely and laughter mixes with genuine scientific appreciation. This move to Europe represents not just a change of venue, but a significant statement about international perceptions of American accessibility under current political leadership.
