A pair of scholars from the University of Oxford have received recognition for their investigation into the evolutionary origins of human kissing.
Matilda Brindle and Stuart West were among ten research teams celebrated at this year’s Ig Nobel Prize ceremony, an event dedicated to honouring unconventional and creative scientific contributions.
Their research examined the historical development of kissing as a human behaviour, earning them acknowledgment at the gathering, which took place in Zurich, Switzerland.
Catherine Talbot, affiliated with the Florida Institute of Technology, also participated in the investigation.
The Ig Nobel Prize ceremony, administered by the publication Annals of Improbable Research, relocated outside the United States for the first instance in 35 years.
Organisers attributed the decision to difficulties encountered by participants in obtaining travel authorisation to enter America.
The event’s host and magazine editor Marc Abrahams addressed attendees, stating that travel to the country had become perilous for guests over the previous twelve months.
Those receiving honours were presented with trophies featuring a design combining elements of a mushroom and a human foot.
Additional studies honoured during the ceremony included examinations of cockroach lactation, the mechanics of nasal exhalation, and a project that interred one thousand pairs of briefs across more than twenty-five nations to investigate soil degradation processes.
The Ig Nobel ceremony has previously taken place at Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Boston University.
No immediate arrangements have been made for the event to resume in the United States.
Upcoming ceremonies will rotate between Zurich and other European locations, with the 2027 edition planned for Antwerp, Belgium.
The conventional Nobel Prize announcements, which bear no connection to the Ig Nobel honours, are scheduled for early October.