For the first time in its 35-year history, the Ig Nobel ceremony is being held outside the U.S. due to concerns over immigration and visa protocols.
Key facts
- •The Ig Nobel Prizes were founded in 1991 to highlight research that makes people interested in topics they might otherwise ignore.
- •Winners received a statuette featuring a slab of blue cheese and 10 trillion Zimbabwean dollars, a currency that is no longer of value.
- •Evolutionary biologist Matilda Brindle noted that kissing may be a 21.5 million-year-old tradition that serves to facilitate mate choice or exchange oral microbes.
- •The physics winning team included Tadd Truscott, a fluid dynamicist at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology.
- •The 2025 ceremony theme focused on fungi, reflected in the design of the award statuettes.
The 2025 Ig Nobel Prizes, which honor humorous and thought-provoking research, are being held in Zurich, Switzerland. This marks the first time in the ceremony's 35-year history that the event has taken place outside the United States. Founder Marc Abrahams stated the move was prompted by an increasingly hostile climate toward foreigners, noting that four of last year's ten winners declined to travel to the U.S. due to safety concerns regarding unpredictable immigration and visa policies.
By the numbers
Scientific Research Honored
This year’s awards recognized diverse scientific inquiries. The physics prize was awarded to a team that designed a splash-free urinal by determining an optimal stream angle of less than 30 degrees. The biomechanics prize went to researchers who developed a rigorous definition of kissing, finding the behavior exists across most living large apes and likely occurred between early humans and Neanderthals. Other awards included the economics prize, which found higher social classes were more likely to take from a children's candy stash, and the medicine prize for research on the aerodynamics of nose blowing.
Perspectives on the Relocation
While organizers described the move as bittersweet, they also view it as an opportunity to reach new audiences in Europe. Holden Thorp, editor-in-chief of the Science family of journals, characterized the decision as rational, noting that the move reflects a broader trend of international scientists becoming less enthusiastic about traveling to the U.S. for study, work, or awards. Despite the change in venue, the ceremony maintained its tradition of showering winners with paper airplanes.
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This article was independently rewritten by ManyPress editorial AI from reporting originally published by NPR Health.
