Hong Wang Receives 2026 New Horizons in Mathematics Prize and Clay Research Award

April 20, 2026

Hong Wang, Silver Professor of Mathematics and Permanant Professor at IHES, has received two recent awards for her work on geometric problems in harmonic analysis. 

Professor Wang has received the 2026 New Horizons in Mathematics Prize from the Breakthrough Prize Foundation. She is recognized for her "work in harmonic analysis, partial differential equations, and geometric measure theory, including the local smoothing conjecture, Furstenberg set conjecture, and the Kakeya conjecture." The Breakthrough Prizes, known as the 'Oscars of Science,' are now in theie 14th year. You can read more about this year's winners on the Breakthrough Prize website.

Professor Wang has also received a 2026 Clay Research Award alongside Tuomas Orponen (Jyväskylä), Pablo Shmerkin (UBC), and Joshua Zahl (Nankai) in recognition of their "remarkable work on geometric problems in harmonic analysis, leading to the proof of the Furstenberg set conjecture in the plane and the Kakeya conjecture in three dimensions." Distributed annually, Clay Research Awards celebrate the outstanding achievements of the world’s most gifted mathematicians.