Three Scientists Win $1 Million Future Science Prize

The Future Science Prize announced the laureates of 2026 on August 13th.

Hong Zhang receives the Future Science Prize in life sciences for his pioneering contributions to the mechanism and physiological function of autophagy specific in multicellular organisms.

Dongyuan Zhao receives the Future Science Prize in physical sciences for pioneering contributions to mesoporous materials in the context of synthetic control, mechanistic understanding, and industrial application.

Xinyi Yuan receives the Future Science Prize in mathematics and computer science, for his fundamental contributions to arithmetic geometry, particularly for developing the theory of arithmetic bigness in Arakelov geometry and for its groundbreaking applications to the uniform Bogomolov conjecture and the uniform Mordell conjecture.

Hong Zhang — Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Hong Zhang has made a series of pioneering discoveries concerning the molecular mechanisms of autophagy unique to multicellular organisms.

Autophagy is a fundamental cellular degradation and recycling process in which cells form double-membrane vesicles known as autophagosomes to transport proteins, organelles, and pathogens to lysosomes for degradation.

The concept of “autophagy” was first proposed by Christian de Duve in 1963. Later, Yoshinori Ohsumi identified the core autophagy genes (ATG genes) in the single-celled organism yeast. Zhang pioneered the use of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans as a model to investigate the molecular mechanisms of autophagy in higher organisms. Building on a landmark paper published in Cell in 2010 and a subsequent series of studies, he discovered a group of autophagy genes found exclusively in multicellular organisms and named them EPG genes.

Zhang elucidated the complex molecular pathways specific to animal autophagy and revealed the fundamental mechanisms through which autophagy regulates organismal development, physiological homeostasis, and human disease. His work has significantly deepened our understanding of autophagy regulation in higher organisms.

Born in Anhui, China, in 1969, Zhang is a professor at the Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. He received his Ph.D. from Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the United States in 2001.

Dongyuan Zhao — Fudan University

Mesoporous materials, with pore sizes ranging from approximately 2 to 50 nanometers, play important roles in catalysis, energy conversion and storage, environmental remediation, biomedicine, and other fields.

Developing mesoporous materials with precisely controlled pore structures, tunable compositions, and diverse functionalities has long been a major goal in chemistry and materials science. Before the end of the 20th century, researchers could synthesize some mesoporous inorganic materials, but precise control over structures at the mesoscopic scale remained a major challenge. In particular, developing broadly applicable methods for ordered mesoporous materials and extending mesoporous structures to organic, carbon-based, and multicomponent functional systems remained key obstacles to progress.

Zhao and his collaborators pioneered new approaches to synthesizing ordered mesoporous materials through molecular self-assembly. They established a series of internationally influential material systems, including SBA and FDU, enabling precise control over mesoporous structures, pore sizes, compositions, and morphologies.

These pioneering studies established general methodologies for constructing ordered mesoporous materials and dramatically expanded the range of compositions and structures available. They helped establish mesoporous materials as a major research field in materials science.

Zhao and his collaborators also developed organic–organic self-assembly strategies for the controlled synthesis of highly ordered mesoporous polymers and mesoporous carbon materials. This breakthrough moved the field beyond its traditional focus on inorganic systems and opened new research directions in mesoporous organic and carbon materials.

His team subsequently developed a range of broadly applicable synthesis methods, including evaporation-induced self-assembly, enabling the ordered assembly of various metal oxides and composite mesoporous materials. These approaches established molecular self-assembly as a versatile platform for constructing functional mesoscopic materials.

Widely adopted by researchers around the world, these methods have helped advance functional mesoporous materials in catalysis, energy, environmental science, and biomedicine, while also contributing to the development of related industries.

Zhao’s pioneering work established the scientific foundations of ordered mesoporous materials and enabled precise control over structures and functions at the mesoscopic scale. It has also deepened understanding of molecular self-assembly and the mechanisms underlying the construction of mesoscopic materials. The field he helped establish has become one of the most active and influential frontiers in chemistry and materials science, with applications spanning catalysis, energy storage and conversion, environmental remediation, and biomedicine.

Born in Shenyang, China, in 1963, Zhao received his Ph.D. from Jilin University in 1990. He is currently a professor at Fudan University.

Xinyi Yuan — Peking University

Xinyi Yuan has made foundational contributions to arithmetic geometry. He established the theory of arithmetic bigness in Arakelov geometry, creating a new theoretical framework for studying small points on algebraic varieties. In recent years, he proved the uniform Bogomolov conjecture and subsequently derived a quantitative version of the uniform Mordell conjecture, proposed by Barry Mazur in the 1980s, marking major advances in Diophantine geometry.

Arithmetic geometry applies methods from algebraic geometry to problems involving integer and rational solutions. Rooted in questions dating back to the ancient Greek mathematician Diophantus, the field has developed into a vibrant area of modern mathematics. Major milestones include Andrew Wiles’ proof of Fermat’s Last Theorem in 1994, Gerd Faltings’ proof of the Mordell conjecture in 1983, and the proof of the Bogomolov conjecture by Emmanuel Ullmo and Shou-Wu Zhang in 1998.

Yuan established the theory of arithmetic bigness, extending pioneering work by Lucien Szpiro, Emmanuel Ullmo, and Shou-Wu Zhang on the distribution of small points. The theory has provided powerful new tools for studying small points on arithmetic varieties and has become a foundational framework in arithmetic geometry and arithmetic dynamics.

Using this theory, Yuan proved the uniform Bogomolov conjecture over global fields. In collaboration with Jia-Wei Yu and Sheng-Hsun Zhou, he also proved an effective quantitative version of the uniform Mordell conjecture proposed by Mazur.

In 2021, Dimitrov, Ziyang Gao, Habegger, and Kühne established Mazur’s conjecture. Yuan’s work provided a broad geometric perspective and established results with explicit quantitative estimates, representing an important advance in Diophantine geometry.

Yuan has also conducted highly productive collaborations with Shou-Wu Zhang and Wei Zhang, including a generalization of the Gross–Zagier formula and a proof of the average Colmez conjecture. These results have become important foundations for proving certain cases of the Birch and Swinnerton-Dyer conjecture and the André–Oort conjecture.

Yuan is a professor at the Beijing International Center for Mathematical Research at Peking University. Born in Hubei, China, in 1981, he received his bachelor’s degree from Peking University in 2003 and his Ph.D. from Columbia University in 2008.

About the Future Science Prize

Established in 2016, the Future Science Prize is a privately initiated scientific award founded by a group of scientists and entrepreneurs. It aims to recognize scientists who have made outstanding scientific achievements in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan, while encouraging greater private-sector support for basic scientific research and promoting the development of science.

The prize currently includes three categories: the Life Sciences Prize, Physical Sciences Prize, and Mathematics and Computer Science Prize. Each prize carries a monetary award of US$1 million.