The Nobel Committee honored Francis Halzen for his “vision and scientific leadership” of a telescope within the ice at the South Pole.

The 2026 Nobel Prize in physics has been awarded to Francis Halzen, a pioneering Belgian astrophysicist whose work developing a massive observatory in Antarctica to detect “ghostly” cosmic particles laid the foundations for an “entirely new type of astronomy.”

Belgian-American astrophysicist

"In retrospect, the most amazing thing is that we got funded for this project." – Francis Halzen recalls greeting each milestone in the creation of the massive IceCube neutrino detector under the South Pole not with pride, but with surprise. In this conversation…

The Belgian-American Francis Halzen won the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work creating an Antarctic observatory of ice to detect high-energy neutrinos, elusive subatomic particles that can ​reveal otherwise inaccessible information about the cosmos.…

"ICECUBE: The Under-the-ice Neutrino Observatory in Antarctica.
Opening a New Window on the Universe from the South Pole"

by Professor Francis Halzen (University Wisconsin-Madison)

Abstract:
The IceCube project at the South Pole melted 86 holes 2.5 kilometer…

Francis Halzen of the University of Wisconsin-Madison has won the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physics for decisive contributions to the IceCube Neutrino Observatory and the discovery of high-energy neutrinos of astrophysical origin.