The ATLAS Collaboration at CERN, which includes University of Adelaide experts, has been awarded the 2025 Breakthrough Prize for fundamental Physics for its pioneering studies of the high-energy collisions from the Large Hadron Collider (LHC).
The prize has been awarded to co-authors of publications based on CERN's LHC Run-2 data released between 2015 and 2024, accounting for more than 10,000 scientists around the world working on four experiments - the CMS, ALICE and LHCb and the ATLAS collaboration.
The European Organization for Nuclear Research, known as CERN, is an intergovernmental organisation that operates the largest particle physics laboratory in the world in Geneva, Switzerland.
The four experiments that share the prize are recognised for testing the modern theory of particle physics - the Standard Model - and other theories that might lead to a more precise understanding of physics.
This includes precisely measuring properties of the Higgs boson and elucidating the mechanism by which the Higgs field gives mass to elementary particles, setting strong bounds on possibilities for new physics beyond the Standard Model, including dark matter, supersymmetry and hidden extra dimensions that could reshape our understanding of nature and the universe.
ATLAS is a general-purpose experiment, which pursues a full program of exploration offered by the LHC's high-energy and high-intensity proton and ion beams.
Members of the ATLAS Collaboration at the University of Adelaide are led by Professor Paul Jackson, who is the Australian ATLAS National Contact. The team has been active for many years in measuring the Standard Model, observing new phenomena and pioneering searches for as yet undiscovered new particles and forces.
"We are proud to share in this award with our collaborators and colleagues," said Professor Jackson, Deputy Dean (Research), Faculty of Sciences, Engineering and Technology and Professor of Physics in the School of Physics, Chemistry and Earth Sciences.
"The prize recognises the extraordinary contributions of thousands of international researchers who have pushed the boundaries of particle physics to unprecedented heights.
"Our work in Adelaide has contributed to the operations and performance optimisation of the ATLAS experiment.
"These activities have helped to educate a generation of early-career scientists in this fundamental groundbreaking research and in translating its impact to Australian industry."
Of the $3 million prize money, $1 million has been allocated to ATLAS, $1 million to CMS, $500,000 to ALICE and $500,000 to LHCb. In consultation with the leaders of the experiments, the Breakthrough Prize Foundation donated 100 per cent of the prize funds to the CERN & Society Foundation.
The prize money will be used by the four collaborations to offer grants for doctoral students from member institutes to spend research time at CERN, giving the students experience working at the forefront of science and new expertise to bring back to their home countries and regions.
The Breakthrough Prize - popularly known as the 'Oscars of science' - was created to celebrate the wonders of our scientific age by founding sponsors Sergey Brin, Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg, Julia and Yuri Milner, and Anne Wojcicki.
