The 2026 Ig Nobel Prizes will be awarded at the 36th First Annual Ig Nobel Prize ceremony, on Thursday evening, September 3, 2026. The ceremony, as per tradition, will also be webcast. The previous 35 ceremonies all took place in the USA, in Cambridge/Boston. In a break from tradition, this year’s ceremony will take place in Zürich, Switzerland.
The basic info: The Ceremony (and webcast) on September 3, 2026
WHEN/WHERE: This year’s ceremony will happen on Thursday, September 3, 2026, 7:00 pm, at Kongresshaus Zürich, in Zürich, Switzerland.
WHAT: Ten new Ig Nobel Prize winners will be introduced — each has done something that makes people LAUGH, then THINK. A gaggle of amused genuine Nobel Prize winners will physically present the prizes to the new Ig Nobel Prize winners.
TICKETS TICKETS TICKETS TICKETS TICKETS to attend the ceremony in person Went on Sale May 12. TICKETING NEWS UPDATE: The tickets sold out within a few days. There is a chance that a few tickets will become available in the days preceding the ceremony.
- REGULAR TICKETS: 89 CHF
- STUDENT TICKETS (Up to PhD-student level. Please show student ID at the door.): 59 CHF
- BILLIONAIRE TICKETS (Expressly for people who want to financially support the Ig Nobel Prizes! Each billionaire-ticket holder will receive a Zimbabwean 1-billion-dollar bill.): 500 CHF
- MILLIONAIRE TICKETS (Expressly for people who want to financially support the Ig Nobel Prizes! Each millionaire-ticket holder will receive a Zimbabwean 1-million-dollar bill.): 250 CHF
- GROUP TICKETS: If your group wants to be recognized during the ceremony as an OFFICIAL DELEGATION, first purchase your tickets, then email us at zurich@improbable.com Minimum OFFICIAL DELEGATION size is ten (10). Maximum OFFICIAL DELEGATION size is one thousand (1000).
IGCAST: The 2026 ceremony will be webcast. (This will be the 32nd straight year — the 1995 Ig Nobel ceremony was one of the very first events ever to be webcast). Webcast watch parties will happen in many countries. We encourage you to host your own watch party. (If your organization would like to host an Official Ig Nobel Watch Party, and thus be mentioned admiringly during this ceremony and also on this web page, email us at zurich@improbable.com )
IG NOBEL FACE-to-FACE: A related event, called “Ig Nobel Face-to-Face”, will happen the next afternoon, Friday, September 4, 2026, at Hörsaal Universität Zürich. The new Ig Nobel Prize winners will ask each other questions about their work. The Face-to-Face event is free. Seating is limited, so we advise arriving a bit early. (The Ig Nobel Face-to-Face event will not be webcast.)
[THREE WEEKS LATER] A CELEBRATION IN CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS…. We will also, later, have a small (small because space is very limited) celebration event at the Swiss Consulate, Swissnex, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, on Thursday evening, September 24, three weeks after the ceremony happens in Zurich. It’s called “Bost-Ig”. There will be short talks by Ig Nobel Prize winners, songs by Tom Lehrer, and paintings from the Museum of Bad Art (MOBA). Details TBA.
[SOME WEEKS LATER] IG NOBEL FACE-to-FACE IN TOKYO, JAPAN…. The Miraikan science museum, in Tokyo, will again host a gala Ig Nobel Face-to-Face event. Date and other details TBA.
(Curious about the previous year? Take a peek at the 2025 Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony!)
