2016 Breakthrough Prize Symposia On Life Sciences, Fundamental Physics, And Mathematics To Be Held At UC Berkeley

Symposia to Feature Winners of 2016 Breakthrough Prizes.

WHAT:

The 2016 Breakthrough Prize Symposia will be held the day after the third annual Breakthrough Prize winners are announced at a private ceremony awarding prizes in the Life Sciences, Fundamental Physics and Mathematics.

This year’s Breakthrough Prize laureates and university leaders will convene for a day-long symposia designed to explore the significance and future of this year’s prize-winning research. The event will conclude with an evening panel moderated by Yuri Milner featuring 2016 Breakthrough Prize laureates and visionaries in science and math.

The Breakthrough Prize symposia partners include the University of California, Berkeley, the University of California, San Francisco, and Stanford University.

The Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences honors transformative advances toward understanding living systems and extending human life. The Breakthrough Prize in Mathematics honors the world’s best mathematicians who have contributed to major advances in the field. The Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics recognizes major insights into the deepest questions of the Universe.

To watch all of the talks and panel discussions, visit youtube.com/user/breakthroughprize.

WHO:

Breakthrough Prize Symposium in Life Sciences:

How the Brain Operates: Development and Disease & Genetic Origin and Manipulation of Disease

Featuring talks by: Cornelia Bargmann (Rockefeller University), Mahlon DeLong (Emory University), Alim- Louis Benabid (Université Joseph Fourier), Gary Ruvkun (Harvard), Jennifer Doudna (UC Berkeley), Napoleone Ferrara (UC San Diego), and Robert Weinberg (MIT)

Chairs: Peter Walter (UCSF), Ehud Isacoff (UC Berkeley)

Breakthrough Prize Symposium in Mathematics:

Mathematical Horizons

Recipient of the 2016 Breakthrough Prize in Mathematics

Featuring talks by: Sourav Chatterjee (Stanford), Lauren Williams (UC Berkeley), David Nadler (UC Berkeley), George Lakoff (UC Berkeley)

Chair: David Eisenbud (UC Berkeley and MSRI)

Breakthrough Prize Symposium in Fundamental Physics:

Panel Discussion introducing the 2016 Laureates in Fundamental Physics & The Future of Particle Physics

Recipients of the 2016 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics

Featuring talks by: Nima Arkani-Hamed (Princeton), Beate Heinemann (UC Berkeley), Tom Shutt (Stanford), Lawrence Hall (UC Berkeley), and Gabriel Orebi Gann (UC Berkeley)

Chairs: Stanley Wojcicki (Stanford), Steve Boggs (UC Berkeley)

Concluding Academic Panel in partnership with Scientific American:

A Multilingual Conversation in Science: from Quantum Mechanics to CRISPR to Chaos

Life Sciences: Jonathan Weissman (UCSF)

Fundamental Physics: Raphael Boussou (UC Berkeley)

Mathematics: Maciej Zworksi (UC Berkeley)

Moderator: I-han Chou (Nature)

Chair: Saul Perlmutter (UC Berkeley)

Evening Program featuring Panel Discussion Moderated by Yuri Milner

Topics will include: How does the human brain work?, What are the origins of life?, Why is the Universe comprehensible?

Featuring 2016 Breakthrough Prize Laureates and Gary Ruvkun, Robert Weinberg, Jennifer Doudna, Andrei Linde, Nima Arkani-Hamed, Richard Taylor, Saul Perlmutter Alim-Louis Benabid

WHEN:

Monday, November 9, 2015
Academic Symposia
10:00AM – 5:00PM PST
David Brower Center
2150 Allston Way, Berkeley, CA 94704

Evening Panel moderated by Yuri Milner
5:30 PM – 7:00 PM PST
UC Berkeley
Zellerbach Playhouse

MEDIA OPPORTUNITIES: All events are free and open to the media, but seating is limited. Please RSVP to Kelsey Stokes at kstokes@rubenstein.com or 212-843-9317.

About The Breakthrough Prize

The Breakthrough Prizes were founded by Sergey Brin and Anne Wojcicki, Jack Ma and Cathy Zhang, Yuri and Julia Milner, and Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan. The prizes aim to celebrate scientists and generate excitement about the pursuit of science as a career. Breakthrough Prizes are funded by a grant from Sergey Brin and Anne Wojcicki's foundation, The Brin Wojcicki Foundation; a grant from Mark Zuckerberg’s fund at the Silicon Valley Community Foundation; a grant from Jack Ma Foundation; and a grant from Milner Foundation. Laureates of all prizes are chosen by Selection Committees, which are comprised of prior recipients of the prizes.

For more information on the Breakthrough Prize, visit breakthroughprize.org.