Since 2012, The Skeptic has had the pleasure of awarding the Ockham Awards – our annual awards celebrating the very best work from within the skeptical community. The awards were founded because we wanted to draw attention to those people who work hard to get a great message out. The Ockhams recognise the effort and time that have gone into the community’s favourite campaigns, activism, blogs, podcasts, and outstanding contributors to the skeptical cause.
Nominations for the 2026 Ockham Awards are now open! Simply complete the nomination form to submit your nominations.
Last year’s Ockham winner was Dr Cyriac Abby Philips, a doctor and expert on the harms caused by alternative medicine in India, who has faced legal threats and intimidation for his skeptical work.
Other past Ockham winners include Dr Flint Dibble, the Knowledge Fight podcast, BBC’s disinformation unit, Dr Elizabeth Bik, Dr Natália Pasternak, Professor Edzard Ernst, the European Skeptics Podcast, Britt Hermes, and more.
While we recognise the best in skepticism, our awards are also an opportunity to highlight the danger posed by promoters of pseudoscience with our Rusty Razor award. The Rusty Razor is designed to spotlight individuals or organisations who have been prominent promoters of unscientific ideas within the last year.
Last year’s Rusty Razor went to Reform UK, the political party headed by Nigel Farage MP, for their widespread embrace of climate change denialism and antivaccine beliefs.
Previous Rusty Razor winners have included Elon Musk for his ongoing promotion of conspiracy theories, Dr Aseem Malhotra for his influential scaremongering about the alleged dangers of the COVID-19 vaccine, the Global Warming Policy Foundation for their promotion of climate change denialism, Dr Mike Yeadon for his anti-vaccination scaremongering, Dr Didier Raoult for his promotion of hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for COVID-19, Andrew Wakefield for his ongoing promotion of anti-vaxx misinformation, and Gwyneth Paltrow for her pseudoscience-peddling wellness empire, Goop.
One of the most important elements of our awards are that the nominations come from you – the skeptical community. It is that time again, we ask you to tell us who you think deserves to receive the Skeptic of the Year award, and who deserves to receive the Rusty Razor.
Nominations are open now and will close on October 3rd. Winners will be chosen by our editorial board, and they will be announced at the European Skeptics Congress in Liverpool on October 17th.
