The Laureates of the Breakthrough Prize, the "Oscars of Science" and the richest science prize in the world, were honored yesterday at a televised gala ceremony at Silicon Valley, California.
They were heralded at glittering awards gala hosted by actor Pierce Brosnan. There was the live performance by Lionel Richie and Chinese singer, songwriter and actress G.E.M.
Presentations were made by Orlando Bloom, Ron Howard, Rachel McAdams, Julianne Moore, Thandie Newton, Lupita Nyong'o, Eddie Redmayne, and G.E.M. (the Mandopop sensation whose real name is Gloria Tang Tsz-key from Shanghai). G.E.M stands for getting Everybody Moving.
Two Chinese-Americans were among the Laureates for 2019 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences that evening: Zhijian "James" Chen and Xiaowei Zhuang.
Chen is a biochemist and Professor in the Department of Molecular Biology at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. Zhuang is the David B. Arnold Jr. Professor of Science, Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology and Professor of Physics at Harvard University. He's also an Investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
The New Horizons in Mathematics Prize was awarded to Chenyang Xu (Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Beijing International Center for Mathematical Research). Xu is a Chinese mathematician in algebraic geometry. He works as a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The 2019 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences was conferred on Xiaowei Zhuang (Harvard University and Howard Hughes Medical Institute); Zhijian "James" Chen (University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and Howard Hughes Medical Institute); C. Frank Bennett (Ionis Pharmaceuticals) and Adrian R. Krainer (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) and Angelika Amon (Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Howard Hughes Medical Institute).
The 2019 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics was awarded to Charles Kane and Eugene Mele (University of Pennsylvania).
The 2019 Breakthrough Prize in Mathematics was awarded to Vincent Lafforgue (CNRS (National Center for Scientific Research, France) and Institut Fourier, Université Grenoble Alpes).
This year, a total of seven $3 million prizes were awarded to nine researchers, including the 2018 Special Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics presented to Jocelyn Bell Burnell (University of Dundee and University of Oxford) for her role some 50 years ago in the surprise discovery of the pulsar and lifetime of inspiring leadership.
In addition, three $100,000 New Horizons in Physics Prizes totaling $300,000 were awarded to seven early-career physicists, and three New Horizons in Mathematics Prizes totaling $300,000 were awarded to five early-career mathematicians.
The Breakthrough Junior Challenge (a global, science-video competition) recognized Samay Godika, with a $250,000 scholarship and an additional $150,000 in educational prizes for his science teacher and school.
The gala also honored the late Stephen Hawking.
"Stephen Hawking urged us to 'look up,' - to open our eyes and our minds to the wonder of the Universe. At the heart of all science is that spirit of curiosity," said Internet investor and science philanthropist Yuri Milner.
The New Horizons in Physics Prize was awarded to: Brian Metzger (Columbia University); Rana Adhikari (California Institute of Technology), Lisa Barsotti (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), and Matthew Evans (Massachusetts Institute of Technology); Daniel Harlow (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), Daniel L. Jafferis (Harvard University), and Aron Wall (Stanford University).
The New Horizons in Mathematics Prize was awarded to: Chenyang Xu (Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Beijing International Center for Mathematical Research); Karim Adiprasito (Hebrew University of Jerusalem) and June Huh (Institute for Advanced Study); Kaisa Matomäki (University of Turku) and Maksym Radziwill (California Institute of Technology).
