Zurich Hosts Ig Nobel Awards Amid U.S. Visa Issues

Written By: Rupsha Saha

Rupsha Saha

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March 12, 2026 4:14 AM

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Zurich, Switzerland – March 2026 – In a historic move, the Ig Nobel Awards, a lighthearted and satirical event celebrating unusual scientific research, will be held outside the United States for the first time. Organizers announced this week that the 36th annual ceremony will take place in Zurich, Switzerland, citing concerns over U.S. travel visas for international attendees.

Traditionally held in Boston, the Ig Nobel ceremony has been an annual fixture for the last 35 years, attracting researchers and journalists from around the globe. However, the U.S. travel restrictions, particularly under the Trump administration’s stringent immigration policies, have made it increasingly difficult for international guests to attend. The decision to move the event was driven by the safety and travel concerns of the international winners and media representatives.

Marc Abrahams, the master of ceremonies and editor of the Annals of Improbable Research, expressed that due to safety concerns, it had become unsafe for their guests to visit the country over the past year. He added that, in good conscience, they could not ask the new winners or the international journalists covering the event to travel to the USA this year.

Move to Europe Amid U.S. Immigration Crackdown

The relocation of the Ig Nobel Awards follows concerns surrounding the U.S. government’s increasingly strict immigration policies, which have targeted individuals on student, visitor, and exchange visas. These measures have created uncertainty for attendees planning to travel to the U.S. for the event. This year, the Ig Nobels will no longer be held in Boston, marking a clear shift to Europe.

In previous years, the event has been hosted in prominent U.S. locations such as Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Boston University. The Ig Nobels, known for celebrating “improbable” scientific achievements with humor, have awarded accolades to quirky research like Japan’s study on painting cows with zebra-like stripes to keep flies away and research on lizard pizza preferences from researchers in Europe and Africa.

Despite this tradition, the current political climate in the U.S. has made it impossible for organizers to host the event as planned. Therefore, Zurich, Switzerland, has been chosen as the venue for the 2026 edition, where the event will take place on an international stage.

A New Home for the Ig Nobels: Zurich and Swiss Collaboration

Zurich will now be home to the Ig Nobel Awards for the first time, with the ceremony to be produced in collaboration with the ETH Domain, a network of Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology, and the University of Zurich. These institutions, well-known for fostering groundbreaking ideas, are excited to host an event that celebrates unconventional and often humorous scientific research.

Milo Puhan, an epidemiologist at the University of Zurich and a past winner of the Ig Nobel Prize in 2017, welcomed the move. He emphasized the value of the Ig Nobel Awards in making scientific research visible to the public while adding a playful twist. “The Ig Nobel Prize makes research visible, and does so with a wink,” Puhan said, reflecting on his own research that explored how playing the didgeridoo can reduce snoring and the severity of sleep apnea.

Switzerland’s long history of innovation and intellectual achievements, such as Albert Einstein’s work in physics and the country’s economic influence, aligns with the Ig Nobels’ mission to celebrate improbable ideas. Abrahams remarked, “Switzerland has already helped the world appreciate improbable ideas, and now it’s assisting in making research more accessible and entertaining.”

Continued Plans for European Locations and Future Events

The Ig Nobel Awards’ move to Zurich marks a shift, but it’s not a permanent one. The event will be held in Zurich every other year, with other European cities hosting the ceremony in the years in between. This strategy ensures that the event remains accessible to a diverse range of international researchers and participants while maintaining its lighthearted spirit of celebrating unconventional science.

At present, there are no immediate plans to return the Ig Nobel Awards to the United States. The decision reflects the ongoing challenges in creating an open, international environment in the current political climate. However, despite this, the Ig Nobels will continue to thrive in Europe, highlighting the joy and humor in scientific achievement and making research more relatable for the general public.