Yuri Milner’s Breakthrough Prize Announces 2024 Laureates in Fundamental Physics, Life Sciences, and Mathematics
On 14 September 2023, the Breakthrough Prize announced its 2024 laureates. The Breakthrough Prize honours exceptional scientists and mathematicians who have made impactful discoveries in the fields of fundamental physics, life sciences, and mathematics.
Breakthrough Prize Co-Founder Yuri Milner says these laureates are at the forefront of “humanity’s collective intelligence,” which he calls “our most significant achievement.” Yuri Milner has also founded the Breakthrough Initiatives and the Breakthrough Junior Challenge.
$3 Million Prizes for Breakthrough Prize Laureates
The world’s largest set of scientific awards, the Breakthrough Prize aptly celebrates the work of the world’s greatest scientific minds. Each year, Breakthrough Prize laureates win enormous monetary prizes along with widespread recognition and prestige.
These are the 2024 winners of the Breakthrough Prizes in Life Sciences, Fundamental Physics, and Mathematics. Between them, these 11 laureates have received 5 $3 million prizes.
2024 Breakthrough Prizes in Life Sciences
The 2024 Life Sciences laureates include researchers who have made vital advances in the fight against major diseases.
Ellen Sidransky, Andrew Singleton, and Thomas Gasser received a Breakthrough Prize for discovering the most common genetic causes of Parkinson’s disease.
Sabine Hadida, Fredrick Van Goor, and Paul Negulescu won a Breakthrough Prize for inventing the first medicines to effectively treat the underlying cause of cystic fibrosis.
Carl June and Michel Sadelain won a Life Sciences prize for developing a CAR-T therapy method to identify and destroy cancer cells. CAR-T therapy involves genetically engineering a type of white blood cell, called T cells, so these cells recognise individual patients’ cancer cells.
2024 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics
John Cardy and Alexander Zamolodchikov won the 2024 Fundamental Physics prize for their decades of work on quantum field theories. Quantum field theories describe particle physics and various emergent phenomena, such as superconducting materials.
Cardy and Zamolodchikov’s contributions have transformed this field of study. Today, quantum field theories are a rich area of research in both physics and mathematics.
2024 Breakthrough Prize in Mathematics
Simon Brendle won the 2024 Mathematics prize for his significant contributions to differential geometry. This field of maths uses the tools of calculus to study spaces, surfaces, and curves.
Brendle has helped the mathematical world make a series of remarkable leaps in differential geometry. In particular, his results have provided insights into manifolds in dimensions higher than the ones we experience every day and the shape of surfaces.
The Breakthrough Prize Honours Early-Career Researchers
In addition to recognising the groundbreaking work of established researchers, the Breakthrough Prize also awards prizes to early-career physicists and mathematicians.
This year, nine physicists won three New Horizons in Physics Prizes, and three mathematicians each won a New Horizons in Mathematics Prize. Each New Horizons prize is $100,000.
On top of this, three women mathematicians who have recently completed their PhDs received Maryam Mirzakhani New Frontiers Prizes, winning $50,000 each.
Learn more about the 2024 Breakthrough Prize laureates.
About Yuri Milner
Yuri Milner is a prolific science and technology investor and a Giving Pledge philanthropist. He is also the author of Eureka Manifesto.
Yuri Milner has co-founded the Breakthrough Prize, the Breakthrough Junior Challenge, the Breakthrough Initiatives, and Tech For Refugees.
The Breakthrough Junior Challenge is an annual science video competition for teenagers worldwide. Winners of the Breakthrough Junior Challenge receive life-changing prizes, including a scholarship for post-secondary education.
The Breakthrough Initiatives are a group of space science programmes investigating the big questions of life in the Universe. Yuri Milner and Stephen Hawking announced the launch of the Breakthrough Initiatives in 2015.
