Four scientists from the University of California were honored on April 18 at the annual Breakthrough Prizes gala, receiving recognition for their significant contributions to science. The awards ceremony, often called the “Oscars of Science,” celebrated faculty from UC Berkeley, UCLA, and UC Santa Barbara.
The event highlighted major advances in physics and mathematics by these researchers. David J. Gross, a Nobel laureate from UC Santa Barbara and a UC Berkeley alumnus, received the $3 million Special Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics for his work in theoretical physics and advocacy for basic science. Gross was recognized “for a lifetime of groundbreaking contributions to theoretical physics, from the strong force to string theory, and for tireless advocacy for basic science worldwide.” He is known for discoveries about how atomic nuclei function and his leadership at the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics.
UC Berkeley’s Yunqing Tang was awarded the New Horizons Prize in Mathematics for her research in Diophantine geometry—a field that has advanced number theory since its development in the late twentieth century. Benjamin Safdi, also from UC Berkeley and Berkeley Lab, won the New Horizons Physics prize as sole recipient due to his investigations into axion-like particles—potential candidates explaining dark matter.
UCLA physicist Thomas Dumitrescu earned a New Horizons in Physics Prize for exploring symmetry within quantum physics across multiple subfields including quantum field theory and condensed matter physics. Dumitrescu said: “I feel honored and thrilled to receive this prize, and I would like to express my gratitude to my mentors as well as to my physics colleagues, collaborators, and friends.”
The Breakthrough Prizes are now in their fourteenth year. This year’s awards totaled $18.75 million; each New Horizons prize is worth $100,000. Since inception over $340 million has been distributed through these prizes.
Mark Zuckerberg and Dr. Priscilla Chan said: “This year’s laureates show what great science can do — deepen our understanding of the world and lead to discoveries that improve millions of lives… We’re proud to recognize their work.” Yuri Milner added: “The brilliant scientists who win the Breakthrough Prize are building a cathedral of knowledge on foundations laid down by the giants who came before them. We owe our civilization — and its future — to them.”
Organizers say that such scientific breakthroughs have wide-reaching impacts on medicine, technology development, national security applications—and create jobs nationwide.
