India at the Frontiers of Physics: IISER Pune Scientists Among Global Laureates of 2025 Breakthrough Prize
The world of science recently witnessed one of its grandest recognitions — the 2025 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics, often dubbed the “Oscars of Science.” Among the celebrated names this year are faculty members and alumni from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune, who were part of the global CMS collaboration at CERN, Switzerland.Professors Seema Sharma and Sourabh Dube, along with 23 former and current research team members from IISER Pune, are co-laureates of this prestigious honour as part of the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiment — one of four major collaborative projects at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), operated by CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research.What Is the Breakthrough Prize?Established in 2013 by tech visionaries including Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan, the Breakthrough Prize celebrates scientists whose work reshapes our understanding of the universe. This year’s ceremony, held in Santa Monica, California, honoured exceptional achievements in Physics, Life Sciences, and Mathematics.The Fundamental Physics prize recognised four massive LHC collaborations — CMS, ATLAS, ALICE, and LHCb — for their contributions to the discovery and analysis of subatomic particles, especially the Higgs Boson, and ongoing exploration of physics beyond the Standard Model.IISER Pune’s Role in a Global MissionThe CMS collaboration is among the largest scientific endeavours in history, involving over 5,500 researchers from 241 institutions across 54 countries. As part of this global powerhouse, IISER Pune’s contribution has stood out, not just for its scientific rigour but also for fostering future-ready researchers.Prof. Sourabh Dube’s group focuses on searching for physics beyond the Standard Model — tackling some of the biggest questions in particle physics, such as unexplained mass hierarchies and unknown forces. His research on the type-III Seesaw model and vector-like leptons has helped place strong global constraints on these theoretical frameworks.Meanwhile, Prof. Seema Sharma’s group is on the hunt for new elementary particles, addressing enduring mysteries like dark matter, matter-antimatter asymmetry, and the hierarchy problem — all crucial to deepening our understanding of the universe’s origin and structure.Training Tomorrow’s Physics TrailblazersThe award is not just a nod to faculty leadership, but also a celebration of the young minds trained at IISER Pune. Several PhD students and alumni who contributed to the CMS experiment were included among the awardees — a rare and inspiring recognition for early-career scientists.“It is heartening that the PhD students are included in the awardees list – their dedication is crucial to the success of the experiments,” said Prof. Dube. He also emphasised how students from IISER Pune have gone on to impact diverse sectors — from international research projects to industries like satellite communication and financial tech.As the Breakthrough Prize 2025 honours the giants of scientific thought, India stands tall among them, thanks to the quiet brilliance emerging from its labs. This isn’t just a recognition; it’s a signal that India is no longer just participating in global science — it's helping lead it.
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