Bhubaneswar(Agency): In a momentous achievement for Indian science, eight researchers from Odisha have been awarded the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics-2025 by CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research. The scientists, affiliated with prestigious institutions in Bhubaneswar and Berhampur, were part of a global team of 13,508 researchers honored for their groundbreaking contributions to particle physics. Their work has significantly advanced our understanding of the universe’s fundamental building blocks, from subatomic particles to the mysteries of dark matter and antimatter. Odisha Scientists Make History with Prestigious Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics-2025A Prestigious Honor in Physics The Breakthrough Prize, often regarded as the “Oscars of Science,” comes with a $3 million award—higher than the Nobel Prize’s monetary reward.
This year’s prize recognizes the extraordinary research conducted during CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC) Run-2, which concluded in July 2024. The LHC, the world’s most powerful particle accelerator, allows scientists to recreate conditions similar to those just after the Big Bang, helping them study the fundamental laws of nature. The Odisha-based researchers played crucial roles in key experiments such as ALICE (A Large Ion Collider Experiment) and CMS (Compact Muon Solenoid), which explore the properties of the Higgs boson, quark-gluon plasma, and cosmic matter-antimatter asymmetry. Their findings have provided deeper insights into quantum mechanics, high-energy particle collisions, and the extreme conditions that existed in the early universe.
The award-winning scientists from Odisha include: From NISER, Bhubaneswar: Prof. Bedangadas Mohanty, Dr. Ranbir Singh, Dr. Sanjay Swain, Dr. Prolay Mal
From IIT Bhubaneswar: Dr. Seema Bahinipat
From the Institute of Physics, Bhubaneswar: Dr. Aruna Kumar Nayak, Dr. Pradip Kumar Sahu
From IISER Berhampur: Dr. Natasha Sharma