The 2026 Breakthrough Prize winners were announced at the annual gala in Los Angeles, often dubbed the "Oscars of Science," where celebrities and tech leaders celebrate major scientific advances. Six mainstage prizes were awarded, each worth $3 million, across life sciences, fundamental physics and mathematics. This year's winners were recognized for breakthroughs in everything from gene therapies and neurodegenerative disease to precision and mathematics in complex systems. In life sciences: Jean Bennett, Katherine A. High and Albert Maguire, who developed the first FDA-approved therapy for an inherited disease, their work led to a treatment for retinal degeneration that restored functional vision. In mathematics, Frank Merle is honored for his work on nonlinear evolution equations, which describe waves and complex systems, advancing understanding of phenomena such as aeronautics, fluid dynamics and astrophysics. The Special Breakthrough prize in Fundamental Physics goes to David J. Gross for his contributions to understanding how the strong nuclear force behaves at different energy scales and advancing fundamental physics. The Vera Rubin New Frontiers Prize was awarded to Carolina Figueiredo, an early-career theorist whose work uncovers deep geometric connections between seemingly unrelated particle theories.