About The Ig® Nobel Prizes
Improbable research is research that makes people laugh and then think.
Improbable Research is the name of our organization. We collect (and sometimes conduct) improbable research. We publish a magazine called the "Annals of Improbable Research", and we administer the Ig Nobel Prizes.
'The Ig Nobel Prizes honor achievements that first make people laugh, and then make them think. The prizes are intended to celebrate the unusual, honor the imaginative — and spur people's interest in science, medicine, and technology. Every year, in a gala ceremony in Harvard's Sanders Theatre, 1200 splendidly eccentric spectators watch the winners step forward to accept their Prizes. These are physically handed out by genuinely bemused genuine Nobel laureates.
The 23rd First Annual Ig Nobel Prize ceremony happened on Thursday, September 12, 2013, introducing the 2013 Ig Nobel Prize winners. The ceremony was webcast on www.improbable.com and about 20 major news and science sites.
"Last, but not least, there are the Ig Nobel awards. These come with little cash, but much cachet, and reward those research projects that 'first make people laugh, and then make them think'" — Nature
"It's like the weirdest thing that you'll ever go to... it's a collection of, like, actual Nobel Prize winners giving away prizes to real scientists for doing f'd-up things... it's awesome."— Amanda Palmer'
