Editing Ig Nobel Prize (section)

== Ceremony ==
[[File:10 Trillion Zimbabwean Dollars (cropped).jpg|thumb|Winners of the Ig Nobel Prize are awarded a banknote for the amount of 10 trillion [[Zimbabwean dollar]]s.]]
The prizes are mostly presented by [[List of Nobel laureates|Nobel laureates]], originally at a ceremony in a lecture hall at [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology|MIT]] but moved in 1994 to the [[Memorial Hall (Harvard University)|Sanders Theater]] at [[Harvard University]] for many years.<ref name=":0" /> Due to the [[COVID-19 pandemic]], the event was held fully online in the years of 2020 through 2023.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-05-19|title=2020 Ceremony|url=https://www.improbable.com/ig-about/the-30th-first-annual-ig-nobel-prize-ceremony/|access-date=2020-12-27|website=Improbable Research|archive-date=December 7, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201207075555/https://www.improbable.com/ig-about/the-30th-first-annual-ig-nobel-prize-ceremony/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-09-18|title=What is the Ig Nobel Prize and who won it this year?|url=https://metro.co.uk/2020/09/18/what-is-the-ig-nobel-prize-and-who-won-it-this-year-13289325/|access-date=2020-12-27|website=Metro|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=The Ig Nobel Awards Go Virtual|url=https://www.sciencefriday.com/segments/ignobels-2020/|access-date=2020-12-27|website=Science Friday|language=en-US}}</ref> The ceremony returned to MIT in September 2024.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-07-07 |title=The 34th First Annual Ig Nobel Ceremony |url=https://improbable.com/ig/archive/2024-ceremony/ |access-date=2024-09-13 |website=improbable.com |language=en-US}}</ref> 

The event contains a number of running jokes, including Miss Sweetie Poo, a little girl who repeatedly cries out, "Please stop: I'm bored", in a high-pitched voice if speakers go on too long.<ref name=":0">{{cite news |first=Kees |last=Moeliker |author-link=Kees Moeliker |title=Infinity and so much more |url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2005/oct/11/highereducation.research1 |publisher=Education.guardian.co.uk |date=October 11, 2005 |access-date=November 17, 2018 |location=London}}</ref> The awards ceremony is traditionally closed with the words: "If you didn't win a prize—and especially if you did—better luck next year!"<ref name=":02">{{Cite report |url=https://www.science.org/content/article/ig-nobel-prizes-honor-zombie-spiders-rock-licking-scientists-and-clever-commode |title=Ig Nobel Prizes honor zombie spiders, rock-licking scientists, and a clever commode |last=Jacobs |first=Phie |date=2023-09-14 |doi=10.1126/science.adk8631 |language=en}}</ref>

The ceremony is co-sponsored by the Harvard Computer Society, the [[Harvard–Radcliffe Science Fiction Association]] and the Harvard–Radcliffe Society of Physics Students.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.improbable.com/ig-about/| title = Improbable.com: "About the Ig Nobel prize"| access-date = July 8, 2019| archive-date = June 4, 2019| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190604012502/https://www.improbable.com/ig/| url-status = dead}}</ref>

Throwing [[paper plane]]s onto the stage is a long-standing tradition. For many years Professor [[Roy J. Glauber]] swept the stage clean of the airplanes as the official "Keeper of the Broom". Glauber could not attend the 2005 awards because he was traveling to Stockholm to claim a genuine [[Nobel Prize in Physics]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.improbable.com/2018/12/27/sad-news-roy-glauber-paper-airplane-sweeper-and-physicist-of-light-is-gone/ |work=Improbable.com |title=Roy Glauber, paper airplane sweeper, is gone |date=2018-12-27}}</ref>

The "Parade of Ignitaries" into the hall includes supporting groups. At the 1997 ceremonies, a team of "cryogenic sex researchers" distributed a pamphlet titled "Safe Sex at Four Kelvin."<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.wired.com/1997/10/a-gala-night-for-weird-science/ |first=Scott |last=Kirsner |title=A Gala Night for Weird Science |magazine=Wired }}</ref> Delegates from the [[Museum of Bad Art]] are often on hand to display some pieces from their collection.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Powell |first=Alvin |date=2000-10-12 |title=Ig Nobels flush out the world's top brains :Bad science gets good reputation at 10th annual prize ceremony |url=https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2000/10/ig-nobels-flush-out-the-worlds-top-brains-bad-science-gets-good-reputation-at-10th-annual-prize-ceremony/ |access-date=2024-07-17 |website=Harvard Gazette |language=en-US}}</ref>