Nobel prize in physics goes to Francis Halzen for south pole work on neutrinos

The IceCube Neutrino Observatory at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, in Antarctica. Photograph: Felipe Pedreros/IceCube/NSFView image in fullscreenThe IceCube Neutrino Observatory at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, in Antarctica. Photograph: Felipe Pedreros/IceCube/NSFNobel prize in physics goes to Francis Halzen for south pole work on neutrinosBelgian physicist praised for work on the IceCube detector that observes the ghost-like particles in Antarctica

The Nobel prize in physics 2026 has been awarded to Francis Halzen for his work on ghost-like particles called neutrinos and the IceCube detector that observes them at the south pole.

Halzen, a Belgian particle physicist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, receives the prize of 12m Swedish kronor (about £900,000) awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm.

In an announcement on Tuesday, the Nobel committee said Halzen won “for decisive contributions to the IceCube Neutrino Observatory and the discovery of high-energy neutrinos of astrophysical origin”.