Improbable Research

About The Ig® Nobel Prizes

The Ig Nobel Prizes honor achievements that first make people laugh, and then make them think. The prizes are intended to celebrate the unusual, honor the imaginative — and spur people's interest in science, medicine, and technology. Every year, in a gala ceremony in Harvard's Sanders Theatre, 1200 splendidly eccentric spectators watch the winners step forward to accept their Prizes. These are physically handed out by genuinely bemused genuine Nobel laureates.

 

"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

 

 

The 22nd First Annual Ig Nobel Prize ceremony will occur on Thursday, September 20, 2012. Tickets will go on sale in early August, at the Harvard Box Office.

 

Find videos and other details regarding past ceremonies on our Archive page

Stay informed about upcoming Ig Nobel events—join our private E-mail list. Please enter your E-mail address here:

 

Who puts this thing on every year?

The Ig Nobel Prizes are organized by the magazine Annals of Improbable Research. The ceremony is co-sponsored by the Harvard-Radcliffe Society of Physics Students, the Harvard-Radcliffe Science Fiction Association, and the Harvard Computer Society. Find out about other Ignitaries and VIPs here.

 

Who has won this prize?

We have awarded 10 prizes each year since 1991. Our winners page contains a complete list for your perusal.

 

How do I find out about past years?

Our Ig Archive page collects details, videos, and links from our past ceremonies.

 

What about the Ig Informal Lectures?

Winners are given only 60 seconds to explain themselves during the prize ceremony, so the following Saturday we give them considerably more time, plus a projector, so they can explain themselves and their research more fully.

 

Can I nominate someone for an Ig Nobel prize?

Of course! For details on how the nomination process works, please read here.

 

Has anyone ever turned down this award?

We contact winners in advance and give them the option to turn down the award. It has happened, but thankfully those cases are rare.

 

Are you ridiculing science?

No. We are pointing out that good science can also be odd, funny, and even absurd. That doesn’t change the fact that it’s good science. Our first rule is that the achievements we honor must make us laugh, and then think. A lot of good science gets attacked because of its absurdity. A lot of bad science gets revered despite its absurdity.

 

How can I get involved with next year’s ceremony?

If you have five (5) or more tickets to the Ig Nobel ceremony, your group can choose to be an Official Audience Delegation, and thus be officially celebrated during the event. To register as a Delegation, first obtain tickets from the Harvard Box Office. Then register with Grand Panjandrum of the Delegations Louise Sacco: (+1) 781-444-6757. The most colorful delegations will be selected to march gloriously into the theater. The deadline for delegation registration is the Friday before each year's ceremony, but tickets usually sell out much sooner.

Furthermore, if you or your organization are comfortable publicly demonstrating both a love of science and a sense of humor, we are always happy to consider volunteers or sponsors. For more information on either, please contact us at air@improbable.com or (+1) 617-491-4437.

 

Do you have a page collecting press coverage about the Igs?

Indeed we do! How wonderful that you asked! Our Press Clips page collects the best instances of other people talking about us for the past year or so.

 

Are you people really as geeky cool as you sound?

Such things are best left to an individual's personal preference and discretion.

 

What if I would like to read about the Ig Nobels in book format?

Several Ig Nobel books have been translated into many languages.

 

What if I'd like to see the Ig Nobels live, but can't make it to Cambridge?

The Ig Nobel organizers and winners also present other events throughout the year and around the world that (we hope) make people laugh and then think. For a list of upcoming events (including the annual Ig Nobel Tour of the UK), see the schedule.

 

 

The 2009 Ig Nobel Prize winners, joined by nine amused Nobel laureates, take a bow as the ceremony concludes. Photo: Richard Baguley.

Viliumas Malinauskus, founder of Stalin World, accepting the 2001 Ig Nobel Peace Prize. Photo: Caroline Coffman.

2004 Ig Nobel Peace Prize winner Daisuke Inoue -- the inventor of karaoke -- is serenaded by Nobel Laureates Dudley Herschbach (left), Richard Roberts and William Lipscomb, and by Studmuffins of Science creator Dr. Karen Hopkin. Listen to NPR's report.

 

The Japanese public TV network NHK created this documentary about the Igs in 2002. Click above to watch.	The Ukrainian INTER TV network sent a crew to the 2010 ceremony. Click on the image (above) to see their report.
Dutch filmmaker Bahram Sadeghi made six mini-documentaries, each about a different Ig Nobel Prize winner. Click the image above to watch the first in the series.	Andy Jordan of the Wall Street Journal attended the 2008 Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony, and brought his videocamera. Click the image above to watch his report.
CBS News profiled the 2006 Ig Nobel Prize winners. Click the image above to watch.	2009 Ig Nobel Public Health Prize winner Dr. Elena Bodnar demonstrates her invention — a brassiere that, in an emergency, can be converted into a pair of protective face masks — assisted by Nobel laureates Wolfgang Ketterle, Orhan Pamuk, and Paul Krugman. Click the image above to watch.
The Russian network NTV traveled the world to interview Ig Nobel Prize winners. Their ten-minute report was originally broadcast in December 2007. The image here shows an NTV reporter visiting the (Literature Prize-winning) Nudist Research Library in Kissimmee, Florida.	WCVB's Chronicle program did a five-minute introduction to the Ig in 2009. Click the image above to watch it.