The Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Francis Halzen for his research at the iCube neutrino observatory

The Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Francis Halzen for his research at the iCube neutrino observatory

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has announced that the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physics will be awarded to Francis Halsen, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a Belgian physicist in the field of particle and neutrino physics.

According to the Academy's announcement, Francis Halsen will receive the award for "defining contributions to the iCube neutrino observatory and the discovery of high-energy neutrinos of astrophysical origin."

The Nobel Committee described these neutrinos as "night messages from space".

This is the second Nobel Prize to be announced this week. In the past, the Nobel Prize in Medicine was awarded to three scientists whose research on optogenetics helped shed light on how the brain works.

This year's prize amount is 12 million Swedish kroner, equivalent to approximately 1.2 million dollars or one million euros. So far, the Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded 119 times to 230 winners between 1901 and 2025.