Watch the Ig Nobel Prize ceremony live in Utrecht

The (in)famous Ig Nobel Prizes are awarded annually for scientific research that makes people LAUGH, then THINK. This year, the 36th First Annual Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony will take place on 3 September in Zürich, and Utrecht University is hosting an official watch party at Utrecht Science Park.

The event will start at 17:30 with a series of short talks by researchers and students about their own Ig Nobel-worthy research, including Ig Nobel Prize winner Andreas Voss (UMCG), who won the 2019 Ig Nobel Prize in Economics for testing which country's paper money is best at transmitting dangerous bacteria.

Other speakers on the programme include:

• Edwin van Leeuwen, who discovered a current trend among chimpanzees to walk around with blades of grass dangling from their behinds;
• Melanie During, who is studying whether hibernation offers good protection against asteroid impacts;
• Matteo Monai and Ettore Bianco, who are studying whether karaoke singing will help with the energy transition;
• Monique de Jager, who will explain why she was surprised and disappointed when no plants started to grow after she deliberately didn’t plant any seeds.

Programme & location

The watch party will take place at the videowall on the first floor of the Koningsberger building on Thursday 3 September and is open for everyone. 

The event starts at 17:30 with our own Utrecht University Ig Nobel Prize pitches. At 19:00, we will tune in to the livestream of the Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony, which is expected to end at 21:00.

We will provide drinks. Feel free to bring your own dinner and/or snacks.

Registration

The event is free, but please fill out the registration form.