Nobel Prize in Physics awarded to Francis Halzen for ice research

Halzen was honoured "for decisive contributions to the IceCube Neutrino Observatory and the discovery of high-energy neutrinos of astrophysical origin", the Nobel jury said.

“Francis Halzen has led an international team of researchers and engineers who have provided us with a fantastic instrument. His tenacity and scientific vision has paved the way for a new kind of astronomy,” Mark Pearce, chair of the Nobel Committee for Physics, said in a news release.

Born in Belgium, the 82-year-old scientist is affiliated with the University of Wisconsin–Madison in the U.S.

The announcements of this year's prizes began Monday with the Nobel Prize in Medicine being awarded to three scientists whose work led to a tool that uses light to help unravel how the brain works.

This week's awards continue Wednesday with the chemistry prize and literature on Thursday. After Friday’s peace prize is awarded, the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences will be announced on Monday.

Read moreNobel Prize in Medicine jointly awarded to ​Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann ​and Georg Nagel

The prize money this year is 12 million Swedish kronor (about $1.2 million), whether for an individual, a small group of laureates or an organisation.

Last year, three scientists won the Nobel Prize in physics for research on the strange behaviour of subatomic particles called quantum tunnelling that enabled the ultra-sensitive measurements achieved by MRI machines and laid the groundwork for better cellphones and faster computers.