UP scientist among recipients of 2025 Breakthrough Prize in fundamental physics

A physicist from the University of the Philippines Diliman is part of the group of researchers honored with the prestigious Breakthrough Prize in fundamental physics this year.

Marvin Flores, an assistant professor at UP Diliman College of Science National Institute of Physics, is among the 13,508 scientists of the A Toroidal LHC Apparatus (ATLAS) Collaboration at the European Organization for Nuclear Research, or CERN. The ATLAS Collaboration was recognized for its studies on high-energy collisions from the Large Hadron Collider (LHC).

The ATLAS Collaboration shared the $3 million prize with three sister experiments: the A Large Ion Collider Experiment (ALICE), the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS), and the Large Hadron Collider beauty (LHCb).

Flores serves as the team leader of the ATLAS group in the Philippines.

"Our team's work on BSM (Beyond the Standard Model) modeling and simulation exemplifies the innovation driving ATLAS forward," said Flores in a statement. "This recognition affirms the impact of our contributions and inspires us to continue exploring the universe’s most fundamental questions."

The ATLAS Collaboration is also planning to form a Philippine cluster involving other local universities.

ATLAS is said to be one of the largest and most complex scientific instruments built.

''As a general-purpose particle detector measuring over 40 meters in length and around 25 meters in height, it was designed to investigate the fundamental building blocks of matter and the forces governing our universe. Its cutting-edge systems track particles produced in particle collisions at unprecedented energies, enabling discoveries like the Higgs boson and searches for new physics beyond the Standard Model," the UP Diliman College of Science said.

“We are now preparing the ATLAS detectors of the future — designed to harness this unprecedented data and further push our understanding of the universe’s fundamental building blocks,” said ATLAS spokesperson Stephane Willocq. — VBL, GMA Integrated News