SHANGHAI, Sept. 10 (Xinhua) -- The winners of the 2026 World Laureates Foundation Prize (WLF Prize) were announced in Shanghai on Thursday. A total of 11 scientists were honored, the most in the award's history, following the introduction of a new prize category.
Ingrid Daubechies of Duke University won the 2026 WLF Prize in Computer Science or Mathematics for her major contributions to applied harmonic analysis, wavelet theory and image compression, as well as her leadership in the international mathematics community.
Yuan Junying of the Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, Wang Xiaodong and Shao Feng of the National Institute of Biological Sciences, and Vishva Dixit at Genentech Inc. won the 2026 WLF Prize in Life Science or Medicine.
They shared the award for elucidating the molecular pathways of distinct forms of programmed cell death and analyzing how those pathways govern diverse physiological functions and disease pathogenesis.
Shao was the first Chinese national to win the award.
The prize introduced a new category this year. Six young scientists under 40 received the WLF Prize for Young Scientists: Raphaële Juliette Clément of Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research, Chen Peining of Fudan University, Ding Shiqian of Tsinghua University, Wu Jiajun of Stanford University, Xie Weidi of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and Zhuang Ziquan of Johns Hopkins University.
The prize is an international science award established in Shanghai in 2021, formerly known as the World Laureates Association Prize. It aims to recognize and support outstanding researchers and technologists worldwide for their contributions to science. ■
