The 2026 Kavli Prize announcement

Honoring groundbreaking scientific discovery, the recipients of The Kavli Prizes 2026 in the fields of astrophysics, nanoscience and neuroscience are announced today by President Annelin Eriksen at The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, Oslo, Norway. The discoveries honored in astrophysics, nanoscience and neuroscience are challenging assumptions, encouraging scientists to explore new ideas and furthering our understanding of how the world works. From revealing how our brains can be so extremely efficient in learning, to uncovering the hidden collisions under the seemingly harmonious spiral of the Milky Way, to our ability to change the properties of materials just by giving them a twist. Each of the discoveries honored today helps to answer vital questions and reveal further areas for investigation. THE KAVLI PRIZE IN ASTROPHYSICS IS AWARDED TO: Vasily Belokurov ‪@cambridgeuniversity‬ , Amina Helmi ‪@universityGroningen‬ and Rodrigo Ibata ‪@unistra‬ for uncovering the fossil evidence of past mergers proving that the Milky Way galaxy was built through hierarchical accretion. THE KAVLI PRIZE IN NANOSCIENCE IS AWARDED TO: Eva Y. Andrei ‪@RutgersU‬, Pablo Jarillo-Herrero ‪@mit‬ and Allan H. MacDonald ‪@UTAustin‬ for foundational work that established the field of Twistronics. THE KAVLI PRIZE IN NEUROSCIENCE IS AWARDED TO: Christine Holt ‪@cambridgeuniversity‬ , Kelsey Martin ‪@SimonsFoundation‬ , Erin Schuman ‪@maxplanckinstituteforbrain6013‬ and Oswald Steward ‪@ucirvine‬ for the discovery of local protein translation in neurons and establishing its importance for brain development and plasticity. 10 scientists with 9 different nationalities and hailing from three continents are honored for their research that has broadened our understanding of the big, the small and the complex. The laureates in each field will share $1 million USD. They will be awarded The Kavli Prize in Oslo in September. Read more about the recipients at https://www.kavliprize.org/ or check out the Kavli Prize youtube-channel. Produced by Liwlig Norway Timestamps: 00:00:29 – Welcome to Oslo and The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters 00:00:56 – President Annelin Eriksen introduces the three scientific fields 00:01:28 – Announcement of the Astrophysics recipients 00:01:50 – Announcement of the Nanoscience recipients 00:02:03 – Announcement of the Neuroscience recipients 00:02:51 – Astrophysics Committee Chair Per Barth Lilje presents the citation 00:06:52 – Presenting the Astrophysics recipients 00:09:00 – Nanoscience Committee Chair Mari-Ann Einarsrud presents the citation 00:12:58 – Presenting the Nanoscience recipients 00:14:46 – Neuroscience Committee Chair Edvard Moser presents the citation 00:19:39 – Presenting the Neuroscience recipients 00:21:28 – The upcoming Prize Ceremony