Science Breakthrough of the Year 2026
Shortlist 2026
Science Breakthrough of the Year
Congratulations to this year's shortlist: 150 breakthroughs across five categories.
Life Sciences
30
Adam Wollman
Newcastle University
Breaking the Wall of Accessible Space Biology
Alen Juginovic
Harvard Medical School
Breaking the Wall of Sleep's Hidden Costs
Ardian Jusufi
University of Zurich
Breaking the Wall of Reflexes and Preflexes
Brian Hie
Stanford University
Breaking the Wall of AI-Engineered Phages
Eric Appel
Stanford University
Breaking the Wall of Global Access for Biologic Drugs
Christoph Kuppe
RWTH Aachen University
Breaking the Wall of Diseased Heart Cell States
Frank Holz
University of Bonn
Breaking the Wall of Vision Loss by a Retina Implant
Federico Tessari
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Breaking the Wall of Movement Complexity
Georg Schett
University of Erlangen-Nuremberg
Breaking the Wall of Autoimmune Diseases
Giacomo Valle
Chalmers University of Technology
Breaking the Wall of Lost Touch and Movement
Gregory Corder
University of Pennsylvania
Breaking the Wall of Non-Addictive Pain Relief
Haibo Zhang
Stanford University
Breaking the Wall of Pathogen-Specific Vaccines
Henning Jacobsen
Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research
Breaking the Wall of Short-Lived Vaccine Protection
Jakob N. Kather
Else Kröner Fresenius Center (EKFZ) for Digital Health/TUD Dresden University of Technology
Breaking the Wall of Trustworthy AI in Cancer Care
Jens Kurreck
Technische Universität Berlin
Breaking the Wall of Animal-Free Human Biomedicine
Jose Andrés
Cornell University
Breaking the Wall of Monitoring Invisible Biodiversity
Juan Manuel Iglesias Artola
Blue Ice Labs GmbH
Breaking the Wall of Invisible Lipid Transport in Cells
Lim Jue Tao
Nanyang Technological University
Breaking the Wall of Urban Dengue Spread
Mark Brönstrup
Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research
Breaking the Wall of Deadly Bacterial Infections
Meriem Messaoudene
University of Montreal Hospital Research Centre (CRCHUM)
Breaking the Wall of Microbiome-Guided Cancer Care
Merlin Crossley
University of New South Wales
Breaking the Wall of Mutation-Free Gene Therapy
Monther Abu-Remaileh
Stanford University
Breaking the Wall of Lysosomal Brain Disease
Moritz Gerstung
German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ)
Breaking the Wall of Predictive Medicine
Nguyen Thi Hoa Huyen
VinUniversity
Breaking the Wall of Inequity in Cancer Care
Patrick Ming Kuen Tang
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Breaking the Wall of Ineffective Solid Tumor Therapy
Paula Cohen
Cornell University
Breaking the Wall of Reversible Male Contraception
Philipp Holliger
MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology
Breaking the Wall of RNA Self-Replication
Wang Ming
Chinese Academy of Science
Breaking the Wall of Precise Protein Degradation
Yimon Aye
University of Oxford
Breaking the Wall of Nature's Drug Codes
Zhiyong Lou
Tsinghua University
Breaking the Wall of Viral Infection and Defense
Physical Sciences
30
Andrea Alù
City University of New York
Breaking the Wall of Light-Matter Interactions
Anjana Devanand
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)
Breaking the Wall of Conventional Drought Thinking
Ching-Wu Chu
University of Houston
Breaking the Wall of Ubiquitous Superconductivity Use
Christian Smorra
Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf
Breaking the Wall of Antiproton Transportation
David Awschalom
University of Chicago
Breaking the Wall of Biological Opacity
Eric Hudson
University of California, Los Angeles
Breaking the Wall of Nuclear Quantum Control
Ho-kwang Mao
Shanghai Advanced Research in Physical Sciences (SHARPS)
Breaking the Wall of Metallic Hydrogen "Holy Grail"
Igor Roncevic
The University of Manchester
Breaking the Wall of Molecular Design Using Topology
Ilya Belopolski
Nanyang Technological University
Breaking the Wall of Semimetal Electronics
Hua Zhang
City University of Hong Kong
Breaking the Wall of Face-Centered Cubic Gold
James Quach
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)
Breaking the Wall of Quantum Batteries
Kathrin Valerius
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)
Breaking the Wall of the Invisible Neutrino's Mass
Konrad Meister
Boise State University & Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research
Breaking the Wall of Ice Making
Kristel Chanard
Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris & Université Paris Cité
Breaking the Wall of Climate and Solid Earth Interactions
Lothar Maisenbacher
University of California, Berkeley
Breaking the Wall of the Proton Radius Puzzle
Markus Arndt
University of Vienna
Breaking the Wall of Quantum Interferometry
Michelle Simmons
Silicon Quantum Computing (SQC)
Breaking the Wall of Quantum Simulation: Quantum Twins
Ming Joo Koh
National University of Singapore
Breaking the Wall of Sugar Synthesis for Sustainability
Peter Richard Schreiner
Justus-Liebig-Universität Giessen
Breaking the Wall of Chemical Energy Storage
Silke Bühler-Paschen
Technische Universität Wien
Breaking the Wall of Topology and Strange Metals
Stefan Ulmer
Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf
Breaking the Wall of Single Antiproton Spin Spectroscopy
Stefanie Dehnen
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)
Breaking the Wall of Size Ranges in Materials
Sven Sturm
Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics
Breaking the Wall of Quantum with Molecules & Proteins
Sylvain Gigan
Sorbonne Université
Breaking the Wall of Precision Molecular Spectroscopy
Tilman Pfau
University of Stuttgart
Breaking the Wall of Novel Qubits for Atom Quantum Computing
Tom Wu
Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Breaking the Wall of Optoelectronic Energy Conversion
Victor Mougel
ETH Zurich
Breaking the Wall of Bio-Inspired Rare Earth Recovery
Xiangfeng Duan
University of California, Los Angeles
Breaking the Wall of Undesignable Quantum Materials
Xiaogang Liu
National University of Singapore
Breaking the Wall of Optical Nonlinearity
Zhichuan J. Xu
Nanyang Technological University
Breaking the Wall of Electron Spin in Catalysis
Engineering & Technology
30
Akshayakumar Kompa
Institution for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC)
Breaking the Wall of Bioplastics
Amir Safavi-Naeini
Stanford University
Breaking the Wall of Optical Amplification
Case van Genuchten
Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland
Breaking the Wall of Upcycling Toxic Arsenic Waste
Chibueze Amanchukwu
University of Chicago
Breaking the Wall of Forever Chemical Pollution
Dangyuan Lei
City University of Hong Kong
Breaking the Wall of Printing Transparent Materials
David Scheschkewitz
Saarland University
Feng Gao
Linköping University
Breaking the Wall of Photovoltaic Circular Economy
Guoan Zheng
University of Connecticut
Breaking the Wall of Imaging Without Lenses
Haoran Ren
Monash University
Breaking the Wall of Multidimensional Light Control
Hong Cheng
Washington University in St. Louis
Breaking the Wall of Artificial Hibernation
Jianhua Hao
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Breaking the Wall of Smart Photonics for Multimodal AI
Jingyuan Xu
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)
Breaking the Wall of Refrigerant-Based Cooling
Mahmoud Jalali Mehrabad
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Breaking the Wall of Scalable Photonics
Martín Fañanás Mastral
Center for Research in Biological Chemistry and Molecular Materials (CiQUS)
Breaking the Wall of Methane Valorization
Mingchao Liu
University of Birmingham
Breaking the Wall of Adaptive Mechanical Metamaterials
Mohammad Samizadeh Nikoo
Nanyang Technological University
Breaking the Wall of Terahertz Electronics
Nejila Parspour
University of Stuttgart
Breaking the Wall of Wireless Power Limits
Sasan Jalili
The Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine, University of Connecticut Health Center
Breaking the Wall of Invasive Tissue Biopsies
Simone Gasparinetti
Chalmers University of Technology
Breaking the Wall of Thermodynamic Quantum Control
Shiming Zhang
The University of Hong Kong
Breaking the Wall of Living Electronics
Stephen Wallace
University of Edinburgh
Breaking the Wall of Plastic-to-Medicine Conversion
Tianyi Ma
RMIT University
Breaking the Wall of Captured Carbon Conversion
Xingjun Wang
Peking University
Breaking the Wall of Full-Spectrum Communication
Xu Lu
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology
Breaking the Wall of Valorizing Captured CO₂
Yanhui Chu
South China University of Technology
Breaking the Wall of Thermal Protection Frontier
Yu He
Shenzhen International Quantum Academy
Breaking the Wall of Fault-Tolerant Quantum Computing
Yu Huang
University of California, Los Angeles
Breaking the Wall of Cost-Effective Hydrogen fuel Cells
Zetian Mi
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Breaking the Wall of Distributed Ammonia Synthesis
Zeynep Akata
Helmholtz Munich & Technical University of Munich
Breaking the Wall of Unrepairable AI
Zhanybek Alpichshev
Institute of Science and Technology Austria
Breaking the Wall of the Perovskite Paradox
Social Sciences & Humanities
30
Alda Mari
Institut Jean Nicod CNRS/ENS/EHESS/PSL University
Breaking the Wall of Crisis Response Delay
Anat Brunstein Klomek
Reichman University
Breaking the Wall of Delayed Suicide Care
Andy Skumanich
Innov8AI
Breaking the Wall of Hidden Risk in Complex Systems
Gabriele Jacobs
Erasmus University Rotterdam
Breaking the Wall of AI as Public Safety Fix
Gasper Begus
University of California, Berkeley
Breaking the Wall of Hidden Whale Vowels
Divyangana Rakesh
King's College London
Breaking the Wall of Inequality in the Brain
Erik Brynjolfsson
Stanford University
Breaking the Wall of the Turing Trap
Federico Zimmerman
Harvard University
Breaking the Wall of Rising Polarization
Genia Kostka
Freie Universität Berlin
Breaking the Wall of AI as a Neutral Technology
Isadora Cruxên
Queen Mary University of London
Breaking the Wall of Missing Data on Feminicide
Jackson Lu
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Breaking the Wall of Assessing AI Use Ability: AIQ
Jessica Jewell
Chalmers University of Technology
Breaking the Wall of Apolitical Climate Futures
Joana Bordalo
Native Scientists
Breaking the Wall of Elitism in Science
Karin Wolf-Ostermann
University of Bremen
Breaking the Wall of Human-Centered AI Care
Kate Philip
Presidential Employment Stimulus
Breaking the Wall of Unemployment
Katrien Beuls
Université de Namur
Breaking the Wall of Human-like Language in Machines
Kehinde Okunade
The Impact Rise Global
Breaking the Wall of Top-Down Development
Kobi Hackenburg
University of Oxford
Breaking the Wall of AI Political Persuasion
Laraib Khan
Ziauddin University
Breaking the Wall of Climate-Fragile Healthcare
Luciano Sewaybricker
University of São Paulo
Breaking the Wall of Happiness Colonization
Luke Kemp
University of Cambridge
Breaking the Wall of Societal Collapse
Marco Postiglione
Northwestern University
Breaking the Wall of Social Change Blindness with AI
Maya Adam
Stanford University School of Medicine
Breaking the Wall of Addiction Stigma
Pedi Obani
University of Bradford
Breaking the Wall of Climate Injustice for Women
Romain Garcier
Ecole normale supérieure de Lyon
Breaking the Wall of Sufficiency for Rare Earths
Sander van der Linden
University of Cambridge
Breaking the Wall of Cognitive Immunity
Saumitra Jha
Stanford Graduate School of Business
Breaking the Wall of the Ethnic Growth Trap
Ufuk Akcigit
University of Chicago
Breaking the Wall of Germany's Invisible Divide
Xunchang Fei
Nanyang Technological University
Breaking the Wall of Global South Waste Management
Yossi Zaidner
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Breaking the Wall of Neanderthal Otherness
Art & Science
30
Alice Bucknell
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) & the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc)
Breaking the Wall of Planetary Simulation
Clemens Wenger
Anton Bruckner Privatuniversität
Breaking the Wall of Quantum Music
Christopher Bellamy
Bio Crafted
Breaking the Wall of Living Systems and Machines
Eduardo Miranda
University of Plymouth
Breaking the Wall of Quantum Computing for Creativity
Entangled Others
Independent
Breaking the Wall of the Intangible
Fara Peluso
Fara Peluso Studio
Breaking the Wall of Future Food
Gyuchul Moon
Royal Conservatoire The Hague
Breaking the Wall of Bio-Sonic Emergence
Ioana Moser
Independent
Breaking the Wall of Computation with Fluidics
Irmandy Wicaksono
National University of Singapore
Breaking the Wall of Electronic Textiles
Isidora Correa
Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Breaking the Wall of Lithium Recovery with Bacteria
Jonathon Keats
The University of Arizona
Breaking the Wall of Architectural Heritage
Kasia Molga
Studio Molga Ltd
Breaking the Wall of Ocean Opacity & Subsea Oil Seeps
Kirsten Hudson
Curtin University
Breaking the Wall of Extractive Image-Making
Laura Cinti
C-LAB
Breaking the Wall of Delayed Ecological Loss
Liu Shuai
Independent
Breaking the Wall of War Pollution
Luc Steels
VUB Brussels University
Breaking the Wall of Machine Consciousness
Maija Tammi
Independent
Breaking the Wall of Emotional Decision Making
Marco Donnarumma
Marco Donnarumma Studio
Breaking the Wall of Silence: I Am Your Body
Maria Roszkowska
DISNOVATION.ORG
Breaking the Wall of Infinite Growth
Marina Otero Verzier
Harvard University
Breaking the Wall of Computation Compost
Louise Deschamps
Marshmallow Laser Feast
Breaking the Wall of the Mind of the Whale
Monica Jäger
ETH Zurich
Breaking the Wall of Understanding the Living
Pau Aleikum Garcia
Domestic Data Streamers
Breaking the Wall of Memory Reconstruction through AI
Patrícia Reis
University of Applied Arts Vienna
Breaking the Wall of Decolonial Circuitry
Peder Anker
New York University
Breaking the Wall of Silicon Memory with Living Archives
Shih-Wen Huang
Vibeweaving
Breaking the Wall of Cultural Flattening in AI
Siobhán McDonald
Trinity College Dublin
Breaking the Wall of Limits through Transformation
Rachel Armstrong
KU Leuven
Breaking the Wall of Obligate Consumption
Yana Zschiedrich
Independent
Breaking the Wall of Ecological Paralysis
Yuma Kishi
Independent
Breaking the Wall of the Human Operator