Left photo © Lester Cohen/Getty Images for Breakthrough Prize. Right photo © Vivien Killilea/Getty Images for Breakthrough Prize
The 12th Annual Breakthrough Prize Awards and Ceremony in Santa Monica, Los Angeles, USA, took place April 18, 2026. Anthony Hyman, founding director of the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics (MPI-CBG) in Dresden, Germany, and Director General at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), and Clifford Brangwynne, Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Princeton University and Howard Hughes Medical Institute were present at this year’s award ceremony. They received their 2023 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences for discovering a fundamental mechanism of cellular organization mediated by phase separation of proteins and RNA into membraneless liquid droplets. Their award was presented by Eileen Feng Gu (freestyle skier and model) and Magnus Carlsen (chess grandmaster). The Breakthrough Prize Award ceremony is a red-carpet event where celebrities and tech leaders mingle with researchers to celebrate major scientific advances and is often referred to as the “Oscars of Science.”
Launched in 2013, the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences recognizes “transformative advances toward understanding living systems and extending human life.” A $3-million cash award accompanies the Breakthrough Prize, making it the richest prize in the life sciences. In addition, up to three New Horizons in Physics Prizes, up to three New Horizons in Mathematics Prizes, and up to three Maryam Mirzakhani New Frontiers Prizes are given out to early-career researchers each year. The Breakthrough Prizes were founded by Sergey Brin, Priscilla Chan, Mark Zuckerberg, Yuri and Julia Milner, and Anne Wojcicki.