J. J. Sakurai Prize for Theoretical Particle Physics
To recognize and encourage outstanding achievement in particle theory. The prize consists of $10,000, an allowance for travel to the meeting of the Society at which the prize is to be awarded, and a certificate citing the contributions made by the recipient. It will be presented annually.
Rules and eligibility
Nominations will be accepted for any doctoral student studying at a college or university in North America including their study-abroad programs, for dissertation research carried out in the field of theoretical particle physics. Nominees must pass their thesis defense not more than 24 months before the nomination deadline. A candidate may be renominated once for this award in the year following their original nomination provided all other eligibility criteria are still met. In this case a new nomination package must be submitted to the Committee, stating that the candidate had been nominated the previous year.
Process and selection
The nomination package must include:
- A letter of not more than 5,000 characters evaluating the qualifications of the nominee(s).
In addition, the nomination should include:
- A biographical sketch.
- A list of the most important publications.
- At least two, but not more than four, seconding letters.
- Up to five reprints or preprints.
Selection Committee
- Mu-Chun Chen
- Alexander Friedland
- John Donoghue
- Thomas Blum
- Timm Wrase
Establishment and support
The award was established in 2010 by the DPF Executive Committee with funding coming from the J.J. Sakurai Prize Fund, in recognition of the role of Noriko Sakurai in the establishment and growth of the fund.
Recent recipients
Zhiquan Sun
2026 recipient
For applying effective field theory to advance our understanding of QCD, including establishing a new formalism to study heavy quark fragmentation, determining how confinement affects energy correlators, and revealing an overlooked complexity of the axion solution to the strong CP problem.
Stella T. Schindler
2025 recipient
For using effective field theory (EFT) to enable transverse momentum PDFs to be computed with lattice QCD, the development of EFT methods to rigorously treat diffractive scattering, and for showing how PT-symmetry techniques enable the exploration of phase diagrams in QCD-like theories.
Zhite Yu
2024 recipient
For discovering new jet polarization substructures resulting from quantum interference at high-energy colliders, advancing the QCD factorization for exclusive processes, and offering innovative solutions to the enduring x-dependence problem of generalized parton distributions.
Cari Cesarotti
2023 recipient
For exploration of collider signals of physics beyond the Standard Model, including the development and assessment of a novel collider event-shape observable tailored for distinguishing strongly coupled hidden sectors from background, and studies of physics at future muon accelerators and colliders.
Seth Koren
2022 recipient
For the discovery of novel approaches to the electroweak hierarchy problem and the elucidation of their experimental signatures.
APS Honors recognizes and celebrates the accomplishments of the global physics community. Guided by our core values, APS Honors encourages nominations that reflect the full range of talent, distinction, and experience in our field, and supports broad canvassing for professional achievement across diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and expertise.
Nominees for and holders of APS Honors (prizes, awards, and fellowship) and official leadership positions are expected to meet standards of professional conduct and integrity as described in the APS Ethics Standards. Violations of these standards may disqualify people from consideration or lead to revocation of honors or removal from office.
J. J. Sakurai Prize for Theoretical Particle Physics
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As approved by the Council of Representatives on April 10, 2025.
APS honors exceptional contributions to the physics community, including travel support for students and early career physicists.