Winner of the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physics Announced

At the press conference held at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the winner of the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physics was announced.

Halzen was awarded for his pioneering role in the development and operation of the IceCube Neutrino Observatory in Antarctica and his contributions to the discovery of high-energy neutrinos, known as particles from astrophysical sources that have no electrical charge and interact very weakly with matter.

The IceCube Neutrino Observatory, which consists of sensors placed in an approximately 1 cubic kilometer mass of ice in Antarctica, detects neutrinos reaching the Earth from space.

As neutrinos pass through the ice, they rarely interact with the ice, and the light resulting from this interaction is recorded by sensors.

By determining the path followed by the light, it can be calculated from which direction the neutrino came, and thus information can be obtained about the distant cosmic events that are the source of neutrinos.

Who is Halzen?

Born in Belgium in 1944, Francis Halzen studies particle physics, astrophysics and cosmology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Halzen received his master's degree in 1966 and his doctorate in 1969 from the University of Leuven in Belgium. Halzen, who has been working at the University of Wisconsin-Madison since 1972, continues his work as the principal investigator of the IceCube Neutrino Observatory.

In 1987, Halzen began working on the AMANDA neutrino telescope at the South Pole, which is considered the predecessor of IceCube. These studies later formed the basis of the process that led to the establishment of IceCube.

About the Nobel Prizes

The awards given by the Nobel Foundation, which was established on June 29, 1900, after the death of the Swedish Alfred Nobel, to those who served humanity, are considered the most prestigious awards in the world.

Nobel Prizes are given by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Swedish Academy, the Karolinska Institute and the Norwegian Nobel Committee to the individuals or organizations deemed to be the most successful in 5 branches: physics, chemistry, literature, peace and medicine.

In addition, the Nobel Prize in Economics was awarded for the first time in 1969, when the Swedish Central Bank decided in 1968 to award an award in economics in memory of Alfred Nobel.

Nobel Prizes are delivered to their owners at a ceremony held every year on December 10, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel's death.

On the other hand, there have been several years when the prizes were not awarded since their inception in 1901. Most of the cases where awards were not given, 49 times in total, occurred during the First and Second World Wars. The award ceremonies could not be held in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid-19 epidemic.