On Thursday night, September 3, 2026, the new Ig Nobel Prize winners were announced — and showered with paper airplanes. They were honored for achievements that first make people LAUGH, and then, make them THINK. This was the 36th First Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony. Organized by the magazine Annals of Improbable Research (AIR), it celebrates the unusual, honors the imaginative, and spurs interest in science. After 35 years in the USA, the ceremony moved to Europe. The 2026 ceremony, produced in collaboration with institutions of the ETH Domain and the University of Zurich, happened at Kongresshaus in Zurich, Switzerland. The first 35 ceremonies (1991-2025) took place at Harvard University, MIT [The Massachusetts Institute of Technology], and Boston University. THE WINNERS: Ten new Ig Nobel Prizes were awarded. The winners (some of them individuals, some teams) represent many countries. The prizes were personally handed to the new winners by genuine Nobel laureates: Esther Duflo, Abhijit Banerjee, Michel Mayor, and Tim Hunt.
The winners’ acceptance speeches were pleasingly brief. The time limits were enforced by three people wearing banana costumes. The three people inside the costumes were Anna Fontcuberta i Morral (President of École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne [EPFL]), Michael Schaepmen (President of the University of Zurich), and Wouter de Pesseroey (head of events, University of Antwerp).
The Prize Itself, and the Year’s Theme (FUNGI)
The Ig Nobel prize itself is hand-built, with a new design every year. This year’s prize has the shape of a giant mushroom. The bottom of the mushroom stalk is shaped like a human foot. Growing between the toes, there are tiny toadstools. The prize is mounted on a wedge that resembles blue cheese.
Each Ig Nobel Prize winning team was given a ten-trillion dollar bill from Zimbabwe. (NOTE: In 2009, Dr. Gideon Gono, the governor of Zimbabwe’s national bank, was awarded the Ig Nobel Mathematics Prize for having his bank print bank notes with denominations ranging from one cent [$.01] to one hundred trillion dollars [$100,000,000,000,000].)
The theme of this year’s ceremony (though not necessarily of any of the prize-winning achievements) was FUNGI.
The ceremony included (in addition to the prize presentations):
— THE 24/7 LECTURES, in which several of the world’s top thinkers each explained their subject twice — first in TWENTY-FOUR (24) SECONDS, and then, clearly, in SEVEN (7) WORDS.
The 24/7 lecturers and their topics: Els Titeca (the Einstein Telescope), Tim Hunt (the secret of cell division), Marcel van der Heijden (fungi), Alessio Figalli (mathematics), and Tess Heeremans (thalidomide)
— A NEW -OPERA SONG about fungi, performed by soprano Serafina Giannoni, pianist Edward Rushton, and the Nobel laureates (who were dressed as mushrooms).
— PAPER AIRPLANES. By tradition, the audience makes and throws paper airplanes. This year’s in-person audience fully honored that tradition, as did the people on stage.
WEBCASTS: The ceremony was webcast live, for the 32nd consecutive year. (The 1995 ceremony was one of the first events ever webcast.) There was a separate Japanese-language webstream.
Better Luck Next Year?
PLANS FOR THE FUTURE: For the future, the general plan is to hold the ceremony in Zurich every 2nd year, thus in 2028 again. Each interim year — each odd-numbered year — the ceremony will be hosted in a different country. “In that respect,” says Marc Abrahams, founder and emcee of the Ig Nobels, “it will be a little like the Eurovision Song Contest with a base in Zurich.”
It was revealed that next year’s ceremony (2027) will happen in Antwerp, Flanders, Belgium.
Abrahams closed this year’s ceremony with the traditional, “If you didn’t win an Ig Nobel Prize tonight — and especially if you did — better luck next year.”
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THE 2026 IG NOBEL PRIZE WINNERS:
IG NOBEL BIOMECHANICS PRIZE 2026
[UK, USA]
Matilda Brindle, Catherine Talbot, and Stuart West for devising a more precise definition of kissing — “non-agonistic interactions involving directed, intraspecific, oral-oral contact with some movement of the lips/mouthparts and no food transfer” — in ants, birds, polar bears, and humans.
REFERENCE: “A Comparative Approach to Kissing,” Matilda Brindle, Catherine F. Talbot, and Stuart West, Evolution and Human Behavior, vol. 47, no. 6, 2026, article 106788. <doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2025.106788>
WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Matilda Brindle, Catherine Talbot, Stuart West
CONTACT: Dr Matilda Brindle, University of Oxford, UK <drmatildabrindle@gmail.com>, <matilda.brindle@biology.ox.ac.uk> +44 7469182150. <www.matildabrindle.com> [UK]
CONTACT: Stuart West, University of Oxford, UK stuart.west@biology.ox.ac.uk +44 7706 162842. <https://www.biology.ox.ac.uk/people/stuart-west#tab-2779506> [UK]
CONTACT: Catherine F. Talbot, Florida Institute of Technology (“Florida Tech”), USA <ctalbot@fit.edu> <https://www.fit.edu/faculty-profiles/t/talbot-catherine-f/> [USA]
IG NOBEL ECONOMICS PRIZE 2026
[USA, MEXICO, CANADA]
Paul Piff, Daniel Stancato, Stéphane Côté, Rodolfo Mendoza-Denton, and Dacher Keltner, for amassing evidence that upper class people are more likely to snatch from a children’s supply of candy, and engage in other kinds of unethical behavior.
REFERENCE: “Higher Social Class Predicts Increased Unethical Behavior,” Paul K. Piff, Daniel M. Stancato, Stéphane Côté, Rodolfo Mendoza-Denton, and Dacher Keltner, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 109, no. 11, 2012, pp. 4086-4091. <doi.org/10.1073/pnas.111837310>
WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Paul Piff
CONTACT: Paul Piff University of California, Irvine, <ppiff@uci.edu> (+1) 6502832027. <paulpiff.com>
[USA]
CONTACT: Rodolfo Mendoza-Denton, University of California, Berkeley, USA <rmd@berkeley.edu> <psychology.berkeley.edu/people/r-mendoza-denton> [MEXICO, USA]
CONTACT: Stéphane Côté, Professor of Organizational Behaviour, Geoffrey Conway Chair in Business Ethics University of Toronto, Canada <discover.research.utoronto.ca/5082-stephane-cote> Office: (+1) 416-978-5704. <scote@rotman.utoronto.ca> [CANADA]
IG NOBEL CHEMISTRY PRIZE 2026
[INDIA, FRANCE, JAPAN, USA]
Sanchari Banerjee, Nathan Coussens, François-Xavier Gallat, Nitish Sathyanarayanan, Jandhyam Srikanth, Koichiro Yagi, James Gray, Stephen Tobe, Barbara Stay, Leonard Chavas, and Subramanian Ramaswamy for discovering that milk proteins from vivaparous cockroaches packs three times as much energy as milk proteins from cows.
REFERENCE: “Structure of a Heterogeneous, Glycosylated, Lipid-Bound, in Vivo-Grown Protein Crystal at Atomic Resolution from the Viviparous Cockroach Diploptera punctata,” Sanchari Banerjee, Nathan P. Coussens, François-Xavier Gallat, Nitish Sathyanarayanan, Jandhyam Srikanth, Koichiro J. Yagi, James S.S. Gray, Stephen S. Tobe, Barbara Stay, Leonard M. G. Chavas, and Subramanian Ramaswamy, IUCrJ, vol. 3, no. 4, 2016, pp. 282-293. <doi.org/10.1107/S2052252516008903>
WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Leo Chavis, Subramanian Ramaswamy, Nathan P. Coussens
CONTACT: Ramaswamy [“Rams”] Subramanian, Purdue University, Lafayette, Indiana, USA Office phone: (+1) 765-496-2235. <subram68@purdue.edu> <https://www.bio.purdue.edu/People/profile/subram68.html> [INDIA, USA]
CONTACT: Leonard Chavas, General Manager. DECTRIS Japan, Hyogo, Japan. Phone: +81 (0)79 280 9585 | Mobile: +81 (0)80 2983 7704. <leonard.chavas@dectris.com> <www.dectris.com> [FRANCE, JAPAN]
CONTACT: Nathan P Coussens (“Nate”), Director, In Vitro Evaluation and Molecular Pharmacology Laboratories at the Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, Frederick, Maryland, USA. <nathan.coussens@gmail.com> <https://frederick.cancer.gov/about/people/nathan-p-coussens> [USA]
IG NOBEL MEDICINE PRIZE 2026
[JAPAN]
The late Tokuji Unno, for the study called “How to Blow the Nose — An Aerodynamic Study of the Nose Blowing”
REFERENCE: “How to Blow the Nose — An Aerodynamic Study of the Nose Blowing” [article in Japanese], Tokuji Unno and Hiroshi Yajima, Nippon Jibiinkoka Gakkai Kaiho, vol. 80, no. 1, January 1977, pp. 11-17.
WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: This prize is being presented posthumously. Dr. Miki Takahara, a colleague of the late Dr. Unno, accepted the prize on behalf of the late winner.
CONTACT: Dr. Miki Takahara, Asahikawa Medical University <miki@asahikawa-med.ac.jp> <hyouka04.asahikawa-med.ac.jp/html/100000259_en.html> [JAPAN]
IG NOBEL BIOLOGY PRIZE 2026
[BRAZIL, AUSTRALIA]
João Miguel Alves-Nunes, Adriano Fellone, Selma Maria Almeida-Santos, Carlos Roberto de Medeiros, Ivan Sazima, and Otavio Augusto Vuolo Marques, for gently stepping on various parts of various venomous snakes — repeatedly, at various temperatures at various times of day — to try to learn what does and what does not induce a venomous snake to bite a human.
REFERENCE: “Study of Defensive Behavior of a Venomous Snake as a New Approach to Understand Snakebite,” João Miguel Alves-Nunes, Adriano Fellone, Selma Maria Almeida-Santos, Carlos Roberto de Medeiros, Ivan Sazima, and Otavio Augusto Vuolo Marques, Scientific Reports, vol. 14, 2024, article 10230. <doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-59416-6>
WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: João Miguel Alves-Nunes
CONTACT: João Miguel Alves Nunes, University of São Paulo, Brazil. <joao.miguel.jm16@gmail.com> (+55) 11 96367-5978. [BRAZIL]
CONTACT: Adriano Fellone, Federal University of São Paulo, Brazil. <adriano.fellone@unifesp.br> (+55) 11 97224-6373. [BRAZIL]
CONTACT: Carlos Roberto de Medeiros, Butantan Institute, Brazil.<carlos.medeiros@butantan.gov.br> (+55) 11 99259-6871. [BRAZIL]
CONTACT: Otavio Augusto Vuolo Marques, Butantan Institute, Brazil. <otavio.marques@butantan.gov.br> +55 11 99455-8462. [BRAZIL]
CONTACT: Ivan Sazima, University of Campinas, Brazil. <isazima@gmail.com> [BRAZIL, AUSTRALIA]
IG NOBEL PHYSICS PRIZE 2026
[CANADA, USA, CHINA, SAUDI ARABIA]
Randy Hurd, Zhao Pan, Tadd Truscott, Kaveeshan Thurairajah, for theoretical and experimental attempts to design a splash-free urinal.
REFERENCE: “Splash-free Urinals for Global Sustainability and Accessibility: Design Through Physics and Differential Equations,” Kaveeshan Thurairajah, Xianyu (Mabel) Song, J.D. Zhu, Mia Shi, Ethan A. Barlow, Randy C. Hurd, Zhao Pan, PNAS Nexus, vol. 4, no. 4, April 2025, pgaf087. <doi.org/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgaf087>
WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Randy Hurd, Zhao Pan, Tadd Truscott, Kaveeshan Thurairajah
CONTACT: Zhao Pan, Associate Prof. at University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. <zhao.pan@uwaterloo.ca> (+1) 337-258-6071. <uwaterloo.ca/interdisciplinary-fluid-physics-lab> [CANADA, CHINA]
CONTACT: Tadd T. Truscott, Associate Professor and Chair, Mechanical Engineering Physical Science and Engineering Division, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Saudi Arabia <tadd.truscott@kaust.edu.sa> <www.splashlab.org> [SAUDI ARABIA, USA]
CONTACT: Kaveeshan Thurairajah, PhD Student at the University of Waterloo (+1) 647-815-2848. <kaveeshan.akan.thurairajah@uwaterloo.ca> [CANADA]
CONTACT: Randy C. Hurd, Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Weber State University, Ogden, Utah, USA <randyhurd@weber.edu> (+1) 801-735-6173. [USA]
IG NOBEL TECHNOLOGY PRIZE 2026
[CHINA, CANADA, USA, EGYPT]
Justin Puma, Zhen Yang, Evan Johnston, Zixin Zhang, Xiaoyi Lan, Lingzhi Zhang, Hongyu Hou, Zixin He, Ali Afify, Megan Creighton, Jianyu Li, and Changhong Cao, for pioneering the use of mosquito proboscises as high-resolution 3D printing nozzles, a process called “Necroprinting”
REFERENCE: “3D Necroprinting: Leveraging Biotic Material as the Nozzle for 3D Printing,” Justin Puma, Zhen Yang, Evan Johnston, Zixin Zhang, Xiaoyi Lan, Lingzhi Zhang, Hongyu Hou, Zixin He, Ali Afify, Megan A. Creighton, Jianyu Li, and Changhong Cao, Science Advances, vol. 11, no. 47, November 19, 2025. <doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adw9953>
WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Changhong Cao
CONTACT: Changhong Cao, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada <Changhong.cao@mcgill.ca> +1-514-264-2920. <nanofactory.lab.mcgill.ca> <https://www.mcgill.ca/mecheng/changhong-cao> [CANADA, CHINA]
CONTACT: Megan A. Creighton, Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA <MC4298@drexel.edu> and <MeganAshleyCreighton@gmail.com> (+1) 413-358-5943. <www.creightonlab.com> [USA]
CONTACT: Justin Puma, McGill University <justin.puma@mail.mcgill.ca> (+1) 514-594-9406. [CANADA]
CONTACT: Ali Afify, Assistant Professor of Biology, Drexel University <https://drexel.edu/coas/faculty-research/faculty-directory/biology/afify-ali/> [USA, EGYPT]
IG NOBEL OLFACTION PRIZE 2026
[POLAND, GERMANY, SWEDEN]
Ilona Croy, Tomasz Frackowiak, Thomas Hummel, and Agnieszka Sorokowska, for collecting evidence that babies smell wonderful to their parents, but teenagers do not.
REFERENCE: “Babies Smell Wonderful to Their Parents, Teenagers Do Not: An Exploratory Questionnaire Study on Children’s Age and Personal Odor Ratings in a Polish Sample,” Ilona Croy, Tomasz Frackowiak, Thomas Hummel, and Agnieszka Sorokowska, Chemosensory Perception, vol. 10, no. 3, 2017, pp. 81-87. <doi.org/10.1007/s12078-017-9230-x>
WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Agnieszka Sorokowska and Ilona Croy
CONTACT: Ilona Croy, Institut für Psychologie, Friedrich-Schiller Universität Jena, Germany AND Deutsches Zentrum für Psychische Gesundheit <ilona.croy@uni-jena.de> 00491778201286. <fsv.uni-jena.de/en/85767/department-of-clinical-psychology> [GERMANY, SWEDEN]
CONTACT: Agnieszka Sorokowska, Institute of Psychology, University of Wrocław, Wrocław, Poland <agnieszka.sorokowska@uwr.edu.pl> +48 691800047. <scholar.google.com/citations?hl=pl&use>r=RqNAcx0AAAAJ> [POLAND, GERMANY]
CONTACT: Thomas Hummel, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany <thomas.hummel@tu-dresden.de> +49 1523 7120007. <uniklinikum-dresden.de/de/das-klinikum/kliniken-polikliniken-institute/hno/forschung/interdisziplinaeres-zentrum-fuer-riechen-und-schmecken/homepage-in-englisch-1/employees/prof-dr-med-thomas-hummel> [GERMANY]
CONTACT: Tomasz Frackowiak, Institute of Psychology, University of Wrocław, Wrocław, Poland <tomasz.frackowiak@uwr.edu.pl> [POLAND]
IG NOBEL PEACE PRIZE 2026
[USA, ARGENTINA, AUSTRALIA]
Jaimie Arona Krems, Rebecka Hahnel-Peeters, Laureon Merrie, Keelah Williams, and Daniel Sznycer, for documenting that we value friends who are vicious to people we dislike.
“Sometimes We Want Vicious Friends: People Have Nuanced Preferences for How They Want Their Friends to Behave Toward Them Versus Others,” Jaimie Arona Krems, Rebecka K. Hahnel-Peeters, Laureon A. Merrie, Keelah E.G. Williams, and Daniel Sznycer, Evolution and Human Behavior, vol. 44, no. 2, 2023, pp. 88-98. <doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2023.02.008>
WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Jaimie Arona Krems, Keelah Williams, Daniel Sznycer
CONTACT: Daniel Sznycer, Oklahoma State University, USA <daniel.sznycer@okstate.edu> (+1) 405-926-0563. <www.sznycerlab.org> [USA, ARGENTINA]
CONTACT: Keelah Williams, Hamilton College, Clinton, New York, USA <kewillia@hamilton.edu> Mobile: (+1) 248-227-6773. <kegwilliams.com> [AUSTRALIA, USA]
CONTACT: Jaimie Arona Krems, UCLA, Los Angeles, California, USA <jaimie.krems@ucla.edu> (+1) 215-275-3308. <kremslab.com> [USA]
IG NOBEL SOIL SCIENCE PRIZE 2026
[SWITZERLAND, THE NETHERLANDS, GERMANY]
Franz Bender, Marcel van der Heijden, Atlant Bieri, and Pia Viviani, for burying 1000 identical pairs of underpants in more than 25 countries, and then digging them up after two months.
REFERENCE: “Assessing Soil Health with Underpants,” S. Franz Bender and Marcel G.A. van der Heijden, Science, vol. 387, no. 6737, 2025, pp. 936-936. <doi.org/10.1126/science.adw0030>
WHO ATTENDED THE CEREMONY: Franz Bender, Marcel van der Heijden, Atlant Bieri, Pia Viviani
CONTACT: Prof. Dr. Marcel van der Heijden, University of Zurich, Switzerland & Agroscope, Switzerland <marcel.vanderheijden@uzh.ch> +41 (0) 76 458 8132. <vanderheijdenlab.ch> [SWITZERLAND, NETHERLANDS]
CONTACT: Dr. Franz Bender, Agroscope, & University of Zurich, Switzerland. <franz.bender@agroscope.admin.ch> +41 (0) 79 692 8664. <agroscope.admin.ch> and <www.beweisstueck-unterhose.ch> [SWITZERLAND, GERMANY]
–Summary by Ig Nobel founder and 2026 emcee Marc Abrahams