Three Junior Fellows awarded Breakthrough Prizes

Two former Junior Fellows and one incoming Junior Fellow were among the recipients of this year's Breakthrough Prizes.

The Special Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics was awarded to former Junior Fellow David Gross (1966 - 69, pictured left). Gross, currently a professor of physics at the University of California, Santa Barbara, has been a leading figure in the field for decades and received the Nobel Prize in physics in 2004. Dr. Gross was awarded the Breakthrough Prize for a lifetime of groundbreaking contributions to theoretical physics, from the strong force to string theory, and for tireless advocacy for basic science worldwide.

Former Junior Fellow Clay Córdova (2012 - 15, pictured center), currently a professor of physics at the University of Chicago, was awarded a New Horizons in Physics Prize. Along with his collaborators, Dr. Córdova was awarded the prize for generalizing the notion of symmetry in various ways, and for exploring the consequences of these generalized symmetries, in quantum field theory, particle physics, condensed matter physics, string theory, and quantum information theory.

Incoming Junior Fellow Carolina Figueiredo (pictured right), currently finishing her PhD in physics at Princeton University, was the inaugural recipient of the Vera Rubin New Frontiers Prize. The new prize recognizes women physicists within two years of their PhDs who have already made important contributions to science. Ms. Figueiredo was awarded the prize for her contributions to the geometric structure of scattering amplitudes, revealing hidden relations among quantum field theories.