Breakthrough Prize

Last updated
The Breakthrough Prize
Breakthrough Prize logo.png
Awarded forOutstanding contributions in Life Sciences, Fundamental Physics, and Mathematics
Presented byBreakthrough Prize Board
First award2012;13 years ago (2012)
Website breakthroughprize.org

The Breakthrough Prizes are a set of international awards bestowed in three categories by the Breakthrough Prize Board in recognition of scientific advances. [1] [2] The awards are part of several "Breakthrough" philanthropic programs launched by the foundation co-founded by Yuri Milner and his wife Julia Milner, along with Breakthrough Initiatives and Breakthrough Junior Challenge.

Contents

The Breakthrough Prizes were founded by Sergey Brin, Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg, Yuri and Julia Milner, and Anne Wojcicki. The Prizes have been sponsored by the personal foundations established by Sergey Brin, Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg, Ma Huateng, Jack Ma, Yuri and Julia Milner, and Anne Wojcicki. [3] Committees of previous laureates choose the winners from candidates nominated in a process that is online and open to the public. [3]

Laureates receive $3 million each in prize money. [4] They attend a televised award ceremony designed to celebrate their achievements and inspire the next generation of scientists. As part of the ceremony schedule, they also engage in a program of lectures and discussions. Those that go on to make fresh discoveries remain eligible for future Breakthrough Prizes. [3]

Both the 2023 and 2024 ceremonies were held in Los Angeles at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. [5]

Trophy

The trophy was created by artist Olafur Eliasson. Like much of Eliasson's work, the sculpture explores the common ground between art and science. It is molded into the shape of a toroid, recalling natural forms found from black holes and galaxies to seashells and coils of DNA. [6]

Ceremonies

#CeremonyDateYearHost(s)NetworkSite
1st2013 Fundamental Physics Prize CeremonyMarch 20, 20132012 Morgan Freeman None Geneva, Switzerland
2nd2014 Breakthrough Prize CeremonyDecember 12, 20132013 Kevin Spacey Science Channel Hangar One, Mountain View, California
3rd2015 Breakthrough Prize CeremonyNovember 9, 20142014 Seth MacFarlane Discovery Channel & Science Channel (U.S.)
BBC World News (worldwide)
4th2016 Breakthrough Prize CeremonyNovember 8, 20152015 National Geographic
FOX
5th2017 Breakthrough Prize CeremonyDecember 4, 20162016 Morgan Freeman
6th2018 Breakthrough Prize CeremonyNovember 3, 20172017 National Geographic
7th2019 Breakthrough Prize CeremonyNovember 4, 20182018 Pierce Brosnan
8th2020 Breakthrough Prize CeremonyNovember 3, 20192019 James Corden
9th2023 Breakthrough Prize CeremonyApril 15, 20232020–2022 YouTube Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, Hollywood, Los Angeles
10th2024 Breakthrough Prize CeremonyApril 13, 20242023
11th2025 Breakthrough Prize CeremonyApril 12, 20252024 Barker Hangar

2025 ceremony controversy

During the 2025 ceremony, Seth Rogen, who was presenting a physics prize alongside Edward Norton, attracted attention with some unscripted jokes regarding the science policy of the second Donald Trump administration. They appeared to target some figures of the tech oligarchy linked to the Breakthrough Prize. [7] He stated: [8]

"And it’s amazing that others in this room underwrote electing a man who, in the last week, single-handedly destroyed all of American science."

and:

"It’s amazing how much good science you can destroy with $320 million and RFK Jr, very fast."

The comments were edited out from the Youtube broadcast, which aired a week later. [9] A spokesperson for the Breakthrough Prize Foundation said, “This year’s ceremony lasted longer than the prior few years, and several edits were made in order to meet the originally planned run time.” [8] However, it's unclear whether anything else was edited out. [9]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "$22m science prize winners announced". BBC News . 2015-11-09. Retrieved 2018-11-12.
  2. ↑ Knapp, Alex. "2022 Breakthrough Prizes Announced: mRNA Vaccine Pioneers Awarded $3 Million". Forbes. Retrieved 2021-09-13.
  3. 1 2 3 "Breakthrough Prize – About". breakthroughprize.org. Retrieved 2020-12-17.
  4. ↑ "The Breakthrough Prize | Office of Research". www.research.ucsb.edu. Retrieved 2025-03-22.
  5. ↑ "Breakthrough Prize". breakthroughprize.org. Retrieved 2025-03-22.
  6. ↑ "Breakthrough Prize: Trophy". Breakthrough Prize. Retrieved 2023-12-16.
  7. ↑ "Seth Rogen's 'Amazing' Trump Joke Gets Cut By Zuckerberg-Backed Awards Show". HuffPost. 2025-04-16. Retrieved 2025-05-08.
  8. 1 2 Sancton, Julian (2025-04-15). "Seth Rogen's Criticism of Silicon Valley's Support for Trump Was Cut From the "Full" Stream of Breakthrough Prize". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2025-05-08.
  9. 1 2 Taylor, Derrick Bryson (2025-04-16). "Seth Rogen's Trump Jokes Are Edited Out of Awards Broadcast". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2025-05-08.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.