Berkeley helped make IceCube a success - and earn its leader the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physics
Francis Halzen, a physics professor at UW-Madison, was awarded the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physics for his leadership on the IceCube Neutrino Observatory. The project, which began as a collaboration with UC Berkeley, successfully detected high-energy neutrinos from space using detectors embedded in Antarctic ice.
Why it matters
This research provides fundamental insights into the origins of high-energy particles in the universe, marking a significant milestone in particle astrophysics.
When Francis Halzen addressed reporters early Tuesday morning upon receiving the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physics, he emphasized that the research project for which he received the honor — the massive Antarctic neutrino observatory called IceCube — began as a collaboration with UC Berkeley.
“I hope this prize will reflect … credit (on) this large collaboration, and especially some very critical people who made critical decisive contributions to this project over time,” Halzen, a professor of physics at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, told the assembled media via phone. “I would like to point out that this project started as a collaboration of UW Madison and Berkeley.”
Also covering this story
4 other newsrooms covered this event. We read each version separately.
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