Natural & Physical Sciences

A team of 13,508 scientists, including over 100 from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, won the 2025 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics, the Breakthrough Prize Foundation. The Prize recognizes work conducted at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC) between 2015 and 2024.

Three College of Letters & Science students have received 2025 Goldwater Scholarships, considered the country’s preeminent undergraduate scholarship in mathematics, the natural sciences and engineering.

College of Letters & Science professors Gregg Mitman, Emily Stanley and Claire Wendland receive 2025 Hilldale Awards recognizing their contributions to teaching, research and service.

Three L&S scholars have been elected fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the world’s largest general scientific society.

Six L&S faculty members have been chosen to receive this year’s Distinguished Teaching Awards, an honor given out since 1953 to recognize some of the university’s finest educators.

Chemistry professor Lloyd Smith named to Analytical Scientist Power List. The list honors analytical scientists who’ve had an impact in health, sustainability and innovation. Read a Q&A with professor Smith.

19 exceptional L&S graduate students have been selected as recipients of the 2024-25 Campus-Wide Teaching Assistant Awards, recognizing their strengths and commitment surrounding the craft of teaching.

Thirteen L&S Tenure-track assistant professors and tenured faculty announced as 2025-26 Vilas Associates Competition awardees.

Professor of Mathematics, Mihaela Ifrim, receives Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on outstanding scientists and engineers early in their careers.