Think you know everything there is to know about science? Wait until you discover its most unexpected side! The IG Nobel Award Tour Show is coming to Paris for a unique evening in the heart of the 5th arrondissement, at Chimie Paris – PSLinthe Friedel amphitheater, with a program full of surprises! Join us on December 9, 2025, at 7 p.m. to discover scientific research that is as rigorous as it is eccentric, in the presence of Marc Abrahams, founder of the famous Ig Nobel Prizes, and several international winners.
The IG Nobel Award Tour Show is coming to Chimie Paris - PSL for the first time, as part of a world tour that includes prestigious institutions such as Harvard, MIT, and the Royal Institution in London. This unique event offers the Parisian public the opportunity to dive into the offbeat world of scientific research, where you can seriously study the behavior of liquid cats or how hair curls depending on the hemisphere.
Created to "make people laugh, then think," the Ig Nobel Prizes highlight authentic research whose subjects are as surprising as they are thought-provoking. At the crossroads between scientific rigor and unbridled creativity, these works open up an unexpected space for popularization. The public will be able to attend presentations of this research by the authors themselves, in a friendly atmosphere that is accessible to all.
Marc Abrahams will be joined by Kees Moeliker, the award's European representative, to introduce this evening of offbeat science. As for the presentations, expect a selection of studies that are as absurd as they are enlightening: Marc-Antoine Fardin, 2017 winner, will explain why cats can be considered solids or liquids; Daniel Maria Busiello, winner in 2025, will explore phase transitions in cacio e pepe sauce; while Roman Hossein Khonsari and Marjolaine Willems will analyze the orientation of human hair according to the Earth's hemispheres.
Other highlights of the program include a presentation on separating drunk and sober worms using chromatography, and a discussion on scientific creativity led by PSL researchers such asEric Clément and Jean-François Joanny. This event promises to be as informative as it is entertaining, combining absurdity with rigor.
Whether you are curious about science, enjoy unusual conferences, or are simply looking for an original cultural evening, this event is for you. It is aimed at students, researchers, teachers, science enthusiasts, and lovers of intellectual curiosities alike.
However, if you are looking for a traditional, highly technical, or formal academic conference, or if humor in science leaves you cold, this evening may not meet your expectations. This is not an event where you come to delve deeper into a discipline, but to marvel at the diversity of research topics in a relaxed, accessible, and often surprising atmosphere.
Held in the prestigious Chimie Paris-PSL building, in the Friedel amphitheater, the event benefits from a stimulating setting that is conducive to meeting and exchanging ideas. It's an ideal outing with friends, a cultural date for couples, or even a family outing with curious teenagers who are open to the unusual. You'll go there to laugh, but you'll undoubtedly leave with your mind full of thoughts about the many forms that research can take.
The IG Nobel Award Tour Show is not just a conference, but an experience to be lived: an offbeat gateway to a scientific world that is rich, playful, and deeply human. It is also a strong testament to PSL's commitment to open, inventive science that speaks to everyone. Just one piece of advice: prepare to be surprised!
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Dates and Opening Time
On December 9, 2025
Starts at 07:00 p.m.
Location
Chimie Paris
11 Rue Pierre et Marie Curie
75005 Paris 5
Access
RER line B "Luxembourg" station
Prices
Free
Official website
psl.eu
Booking
psl.eu
More information
Free admission upon registration. Conference in English.
