Professor Hannah Price is one of nine finalists for this year’s Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists in the United Kingdom.
Professor Hannah Price
University of Birmingham researcher Professor Hannah Price has been announced as a finalist for a prestigious award celebrating the achievements of young British scientists.
Professor Price is one of nine finalists for this year’s Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists in the United Kingdom – the eighth such occasion.
Established by the Blavatnik Family Foundation and administered by The New York Academy of Sciences, the Awards recognise scientific advances by UK researchers across Life Sciences, Chemical Sciences, and Physical Sciences & Engineering.
I am deeply honoured by this recognition from the Blavatnik Foundation and am very grateful to the University of Birmingham and to my colleagues and collaborators for making this possible. It is a really exciting time for quantum physics as experimental advances are allowing us to ask so many new questions. There is so much still to explore, and I can’t wait to continue this journey with my fantastic research team.
Professor of Theoretical Physics Hannah Price has authored groundbreaking theories and innovative experimental collaborations that give insight into physics with more than three spatial dimensions, including the fourth dimension.
Her research interests focus on photonics and cold atoms - particularly how we can engineer such platforms to realise novel topological phases of matter, drawing on ideas developed to describe systems of electrons in condensed matter.
She has built on developments in cold atoms and photonics to propose how to simulate the physics of higher-dimensional topological systems, such as the four-dimensional quantum Hall effect, for the first time in experiments.
Professor Price commented: “I am deeply honoured by this recognition from the Blavatnik Foundation and am very grateful to the University of Birmingham and to my colleagues and collaborators for making this possible.
“It is a really exciting time for quantum physics as experimental advances are allowing us to ask so many new questions. There is so much still to explore, and I can’t wait to continue this journey with my fantastic research team.”
On Wednesday, 4 March, Professor Shitij Kapur, FMedSci, Vice-Chancellor & President, King’s College London, will announce the three 2025 Laureates at a gala dinner and awards ceremony. The three Laureates will each receive an unrestricted award of £100,000. The remaining six Finalists will each receive £30,000.
The Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists are the largest unrestricted prizes available to UK scientists aged 42 or younger. Since launching in 2017, UK scientists honoured by the Blavatnik Awards have received more than £3 million in prize money.
Sir Leonard Blavatnik, Founder of Access Industries and Head of the Blavatnik Family Foundation, said: “We created the Blavatnik Awards to support the creative and novel research of promising scientists early in their careers, recognising their achievements and accelerating the trajectories of beneficial scientific breakthroughs and innovations,”
This year’s Finalists from nine different UK universities were selected by an independent jury of expert scientists from a pool of 94 nominees representing 45 academic and research institutions across the UK.
The awards are instrumental in expanding the engagement and recognition of young scientists and providing the support and encouragement needed to drive scientific innovation for the next generation.
Professor Nicholas B. Dirks, President and CEO of The New York Academy of Sciences and Chair of the Awards’ Scientific Advisory Council, said: “I wish these nine Finalists a hearty congratulations and best of luck. They demonstrate great promise and potential through their bold, scientific research. Their work lays the foundation for treatments and discoveries that can help people, our planet, and the pursuit of science itself.”
The Blavatnik Awards in the UK sit alongside their global counterparts, the Blavatnik National Awards and the Blavatnik Regional Awards in the United States, and the Blavatnik Awards in Israel, all of which honour and support exceptional early-career scientists. By the close of 2025, the Blavatnik Awards will have awarded prizes totalling nearly $20 million.
Blavatnik Awards scholars are driving economic growth by embarking on new scientific trajectories to pursue high-risk, high-reward scientific research. To date, Blavatnik Awards honourees have founded 74 companies. After recognition by the Blavatnik Awards, 30% of past honourees obtained a patent or filed a patent application, 75% have started a new research direction, and 11% have started a new collaboration with another Blavatnik Awards honouree.
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The University of Birmingham is ranked amongst the world’s top 100 universities institutions. Its work brings people from across the world to Birmingham, including researchers, teachers and more than 8,000 international students from over 150 countries.
To follow the progress of the Blavatnik Awards, please visit the Awards’ website (www.blavatnikawards.org) or follow us on Facebook and X (@BlavatnikAwards).
About the Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists
The Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists, established by the Blavatnik Family Foundation in 2007 and independently administered by The New York Academy of Sciences, began by identifying outstanding scientific talent in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. In 2014, the Blavatnik National Awards were created to recognise faculty-rank scientists throughout the United States. In 2017, the Awards were further expanded to honour faculty-rank scientists in the UK and Israel. For updates about the Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists, please visit www.blavatnikawards.org or follow us on X and Facebook @BlavatnikAwards.
About the Blavatnik Family Foundation
The Blavatnik Family Foundation provides many of the world’s best researchers, scientists, and future leaders with the support and funding needed to solve humankind’s greatest challenges. Led by Sir Leonard Blavatnik, founder and chairman of Access Industries, the Foundation advances and promotes innovation, discovery, and creativity to benefit the whole of society. Over the past decade, the Foundation has contributed over US$1 billion to more than 250 organisations. See more at www.blavatnikfoundation.org.
About The New York Academy of Sciences
The New York Academy of Sciences is an independent, not-for-profit organisation that, since 1817, has been committed to advancing science for the benefit of society. With more than 20,000 Members in 100 countries, the Academy advances scientific and technical knowledge, addresses global challenges with science-based solutions, and sponsors a wide variety of educational initiatives at all levels for STEM and STEM-related fields. The Academy hosts programs and publishes content in the areas of life and physical sciences, the social sciences, nutrition, artificial intelligence, computer science, and sustainability. The Academy also provides professional and educational resources for researchers across all phases of their careers. The Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists is part of a series of prominent awards and scholarship programs that the Academy and its partners present each year to accomplished early-career and established scientists worldwide. These initiatives, along with education and professional development programs for students and young scientists, reflect the Academy’s broader commitment to strengthening and diversifying the pipeline for skilled and talented scientists globally. Please visit us online at nyas.org.
Professor of Theoretical Physics
Staff profile for Professor Hannah Price
