Three Chinese women mathematicians shine at 2026 Breakthrough Prize

The 2026 Breakthrough Prize winners are out, and this year three Chinese young women mathematicians are making global headlines.

Often dubbed the "Oscars of Science," the Breakthrough Prize honors groundbreaking achievements in life sciences, fundamental physics and mathematics, with each prize worth $3 million.

Among the standout moments: Wang Hong, Tang Yunqing and Zhang Mingjia were all recognized for their exceptional contributions to mathematics.

Wang Hong and Tang Yunqing received the New Horizons in Mathematics Prize, while Zhang Mingjia was awarded the Maryam Mirzakhani New Frontiers Prize, which celebrates outstanding early-career women mathematicians.

Wang Hong, affiliated with leading institutions in France and the US, has quickly risen as a prominent figure in harmonic analysis. After winning major honors last year, she is now widely seen as a strong contender for the Fields Medal in 2026.

Tang Yunqing, working in number theory, tackled one of the field's longstanding challenges – the "unbounded denominators conjecture" – in collaboration with Vesselin Dimitrov.

Meanwhile, Zhang Mingjia, a post-95s rising star, is being recognized for her work at the intersection of number theory and algebraic geometry. Her research on Shimura varieties offers fresh insights into deep structures underlying modern mathematics.

Three young women, three breakthroughs – reshaping the future of mathematics.