Francis Halzen of the University of Wisconsin–Madison, US, was awarded the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physics on 6 October for his decisive contributions to the IceCube Neutrino Observatory and the discovery of high-energy neutrinos of astrophysical origin. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences recognised Dr Halzen’s scientific leadership in developing IceCube, a neutrino observatory embedded in a cubic kilometre of Antarctic ice at the South Pole. The facility has enabled researchers to detect extremely high-energy neutrinos originating from distant regions of the universe.
