Mind & body, Research

Live streaming of Breakthrough Prize symposia Nov. 10

By Robert Sanders

More than 20 scientific luminaries from the fields of physics, mathematics and the life sciences will speak at a daylong series of symposia Monday, Nov. 10, at Stanford University, streamed live to the UC Berkeley campus from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

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Students, faculty and staff can watch a webcast of the Breakthrough Prize Symposia from their desktop computers, but are also invited to join like-minded viewers at International House, where three rooms have been set aside for streaming each of the three concurrent sessions. UC Berkeley, Stanford and UC San Francisco are symposia partners, and Berkeley will host the symposia in 2015.

On Sunday, Nov. 9, the newest Breakthrough Prize winners were announced, including structural biologist Jennifer Doudna and Nobel Laureate Saul Perlmutter.

On Sunday, Nov. 9, the newest Breakthrough Prize winners were announced, including structural biologist Jennifer Doudna and Nobel Laureate Saul Perlmutter.

The annual Breakthrough Prizes, which include a trophy and $3 million to each laureate in fundamental physics, life sciences and mathematics, are sponsored by Google co-founder Sergey Brin and his wife, Anne Wojcicki, a founder of the genetics company 23andMe; Alibaba Group founder Jack Ma and his wife, Cathy Zhang; Russian entrepreneur and venture capitalist Yuri Milner and his wife, Julia; and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan. The goal is to celebrate scientists and generate excitement about the pursuit of science as a career.

Four of the five speaking during this year’s math symposium are the 2015 winners of the Breakthrough Prize in mathematics, announced in June. The speakers in the life sciences symposium are the 2014 winners, while those presenting during the physics symposium include many winners of the 2014 prizes.

The 2015 Breakthrough Prize winners in physics and life sciences will be announced Sunday, Nov. 9, during a gala, star-studded ceremony in Silicon Valley that will be simulcast by the Discovery Channel and the Science Channel on Nov. 15 in the United States. The prize in life sciences honors transformative advances toward understanding living systems and extending human life, with one prize dedicated to work that contributes to the understanding of Parkinson’s disease. The prize in fundamental physics recognizes major insights into the deepest questions of the universe.

Breakfast discussions and scientific symposia to explore the significance and future of this year’s prize-winners take place Nov. 10 at several sites on the Stanford campus.

Streaming to UC Berkeley begins with a 9 a.m.-10:30 a.m. moderated discussion that includes Graham Fleming, Berkeley’s vice chancellor for research. Three simultaneous scientific symposia will be webcast between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m., with Berkeley Nobel Laureate Randy Schekman and theoretical physicist Uros Seljak among those participating.

Viewers are encouraged to be part of the conversation on social media using the Twitter hashtag #BreakthroughPrize.

The day’s I-House schedule and streaming video links are below. Please RSVP to attend one of the I-House sessions: https://ucbevents.wufoo.com/forms/uc-berkeley-breakthrough-prize-live-streaming/.

9 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.

  • Moderated discussions with university leaders and prize-winners (Chevron Auditorium) – Streaming

11 a.m. – 5: p.m.

  • Life Sciences Symposium (Chevron Auditorium) – Streaming
  • Fundamental Physics Symposium (Robert Sproul Room) – Streaming
  • Mathematics Symposium (Slusser Room) – Streaming

Event Contact: research@berkeley.edu