IG Nobel prize goes to University of Twente researcher

Last Friday, Mirjam Tuk, researcher at the University of Twente, was awarded the Ig Nobel Prize for medicine at Harvard University in the United States. She received the award for research demonstrating that people make better decisions on a full bladder. The Ig Nobel Prizes honour scientific achievements that first make people laugh and then make them think.

Dr. Mirjam Tuk conducts research at the University of Twente into the influence of various physiological factors (determinants) on human self-control. Self-control, like not overeating and not violating social norms, affects your daily functioning. For example, hunger reduces your self-control. Scientific research shows that people with better self-control are more successful.

Bladder control

Tuk's award-winning research looked at the influence of bladder control in decision-making. It showed that people with a full bladder make more informed decisions. Bladder control is the first physiological determinant that leads to an increase in self-control rather than a decrease. The results of the study were published this year in the scientific journalPsychological Science.

IG Nobel prize

Tuk was very honoured to receive the prize. "I understand there's a funny element to my research but it is nevertheless a serious and relevant study." And that is exactly what the Ig Nobel Prizes are about: awarding research that first makes you laugh but then makes you think. The Ig Nobel Prizes are organized by the scientific journal Annals of Improbable Research. 

Note to the press

For more information on the study, please click here. For further information, or a digital version of the article Inhibitory spillover: increased urination urgency facilitates impulse control in unrelated domains, please contact the Science Information Officer Joost Bruysters on +31-(0)53-4892773 or +31-(0)6-10488228.