Ig Nobel Prizes land in Switzerland amid stricter US border policy

Laugh first, think later: the Ig Nobel Prizes are coming to Zurich Keystone-SDA

For the first time in their history, the Ig Nobel Prizes are being awarded outside the United States. On Thursday evening, Zurich’s Kongresshaus will be the venue for one of the world’s most unusual scientific events.

The awards recognise research that sounds so bizarre that one can’t help but laugh at first. That is precisely the principle behind the Ig Nobel Prizes: “It makes people laugh, then think.”

The prizes have been awarded for 35 years. Until now, they have always been handed out in the US: the first ceremony took place in 1991 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); later, they were presented at Harvard University, and most recently at MIT again.

The fact that this long-standing event is leaving the US is down to changes in American immigration policy.

“The laureates travel from all over the world. With the current policy in the US, it has become more difficult to ensure that everyone can actually enter the country,” Mirko Bischofberger, one of the organisers of the Zurich Ig Nobel Prize ceremony, told the Keystone-SDA news agency. That is why they looked for a venue that would be easily accessible to the international scientific community.

Switzerland has a number of key advantages in this regard, said Bischofberger: “We are a country that prize-winners can enter easily; we are at the heart of Europe; there are many direct flights; and we enjoy long-term stability.”

Will Swiss humour be a good fit?

It now remains to be seen whether the infrastructure and Swiss sense of humour are a good fit. The Ig Nobel Prize thrives on a particular brand of humour. The award ceremony itself does not take itself too seriously: traditionally, the audience throws paper aeroplanes onto the stage. Acceptance speeches may last no longer than 60 seconds. And anyone who goes over time must expect some unusual consequences. At a previous ceremony, a child would take to the stage and repeat tirelessly into the microphone: “Please stop, I’m bored!”

Even the prize money is part of the joke: award-winning researchers receive a genuine, albeit completely worthless, 10-trillion-dollar note from Zimbabwe.

Irony aside, the Ig Nobel Prizes are not intended as a mockery of science. Rather, they aim to show that even unusual or, at first glance, absurd questions can lead to research. It is therefore well-respected researchers who are honoured.

There is even an Ig Nobel laureate who went on to win the Nobel Prize: André Geim. And real Nobel laureates are always present at the award ceremonies. Those expected in Zurich are Tim Hunt, Esther Duflo, Abhijit Banerjee and Michel Mayor.

Switzerland is also a laureate

Bischofberger promises that things may well get a bit wild at the awards ceremony in Zurich. “Humour in Switzerland may not be quite the same as the geeky humour found in the world of science,” he said. However, he believes that the Zurich audience will be just as enthusiastic about it.

A look back at history shows that Switzerland is by no means lacking in Ig Nobel potential, according to Bischofberger. In 2008, the Ig Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the Swiss National Ethics Commission and the entire Swiss population. The reason: Switzerland had enshrined in law the principle that plants, too, possess dignity.

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Translated from German, reviewed by an English Department journalist