Please join us for BOST-Ig, AN IG NOBEL CELEBRATION IN CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, USA — Thursday, September 24, 2026, at the Swiss Consulate, Swissnex, 420 Broadway, Cambridge, 6:00-7:00 pm, then light refreshments (doors open 5:30).
WHAT: A celebration of the new Ig Nobel Prize winners, who received their prizes on September 3 in Zurich, Switzerland. at the 36th First Annual Ig Nobel Prize ceremony.
WHY this September 24 event is happening in Massachusetts, three weeks after the ceremony happened in Europe: To show that American scientists and the American public, undaunted by the current bizarre attacks on science, both support and enjoy(!) the grand adventure of science. PLEASE NOTE that three of the four new Ig Nobel Prize winners at this event live in the USA, and so could travel to this event comfortably. BACKGROUND: We moved this year’s Ig Nobel Prize ceremony out of the USA (specifically, to Switzerland) because most of the new winners would be reluctant, unwilling, or not permitted to travel to the USA. Read more about why this year’s ceremony moved outside the USA.]
DETAILS: With Ig Nobel founder Marc Abrahams and
- New Ig Nobel Prize winners Kate Talbot (Biomechanics Prize),Nate Coussens (Chemistry Prize), Franz Bender (Soil Science) and a special appearance of Edie Lou Freisinger’s underwear dress
- Past Ig Nobel Prize winners Deborah Anderson (2008 Chemistry Prize) and Dan Lieberman (2009 Physics Prize),
- Nobel laureates Eric Maskin and Claudia Goldin
- Tom Lehrer songs (Tom, who died last year, helped with several of the early Ig Nobel ceremonies) performed by Amanda Palmer and Thomas Michel (who each have performed in and helped organize many Ig ceremonies)
- A short display/talk by Louise Reilly Sacco and Michael Frank (who have helped organize many Ig ceremonies) of science-related paintings from MOBA, the Museum of Bad Art
- Fanfare orchestra: Thomas Michel (accordion), Flynn Ever (alphorn), Eric Maskin (clarinet)
- And other stuff
- And there will be jolly conversation with the audience
TICKETS TICKETS TICKETS are free, but space is very limited! [UPDATE: The tickets are all gone… but you might want to check the site, now and then, in case some ticket-holder has had to cancel their reservation.]
An edited video of this event will meander onto the internet, later in the year.