2026 Kavli Prizes Highlight Twistronics and Local Protein Synthesis

The 2026 Kavli Prizes in Nanoscience and Neuroscience were announced. Nanoscience laureates Eva Y. Andrei (Rutgers), Pablo Jarillo-Herrero (MIT) and Allan H. MacDonald (UT-Austin) were recognized for establishing twistronics. Neuroscience laureates Christine Holt (Cambridge), Erin Schuman (Max Planck), Oswald Steward (UC Irvine) and Kelsey Martin (Simons Foundation) were recognized for proving local protein synthesis in neurons.

Rutgers-Eagleton Poll

The Kavli Prize, awarded biennially by Norway’s Academy of Science and Letters, the Ministry of Education and Research and the Kavli Foundation, grants a shared US$1 million per field.

Rutgers-Eagleton Poll

Twistronics: Andrei’s Rutgers team showed that a slight twist between two graphene sheets changes electronic behavior, enabling voltage-controlled transitions from metal to insulator to superconductor. Jarillo-Herrero’s MIT group later observed superconductivity at the magic angle, and MacDonald supplied the flat-band theory.

Rutgers-Eagleton Poll

Local protein synthesis: Holt’s live-imaging of severed Xenopus axons revealed autonomous growth-cone development, indicating local translation. Schuman isolated translating ribosomes in dendrites; Steward found polyribosomes at synaptic spines; Martin showed synapse-specific protein synthesis drives activity-dependent strengthening in Aplysia.

Protein synthesis pioneers garner Kavli neuroscience prize

Each prize shares US$1 million. Nanoscience laureates span three institutions; neuroscience laureates span four. Andrei is Rutgers’s first Kavli laureate.

Rutgers-Eagleton Poll

Twistronics may enable room-temperature superconductors and efficient electronics; local protein synthesis reshapes synaptic plasticity models and disease research.

Pablo Jarillo-Herrero wins Kavli Prize in Nanoscience

Rutgers chair John P. Hughes called the award validation of Andrei’s work; Annelin Eriksen called the prize an investment; Mari-Ann Einarsrud noted Andrei’s early paper rejection and later breakthrough; MIT dean Nergis Mavalvala praised Jarillo-Herrero’s pioneering work; Deepto Chakrabarty highlighted superconductivity prospects; Edvard Moser stressed the overturning of a neuroscience dogma; Kelsey Martin thanked collaborators.

Rutgers-Eagleton Poll

• “The Kavli award is an exceptional recognition of Eva Andrei's accomplishments that have established a new research field in nanoscale quantum physics and are inspiring scientists across other fields,’’ said John P.” — John P. Hughes, Chair, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rutgers University

Rutgers-Eagleton Poll

• “Honoring these excellent scientists is not only a recognition of achievements, it is an investment in our shared future, affirming the curiosity, rigor, and courage that drives human progress,” — Annelin Eriksen, President, Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters

Rutgers-Eagleton Poll

• “’” ” Their research really broke with what had long been considered almost like a dogma in neuroscience.” — Edvard Moser, Chair, Kavli Prize Committee in Neuroscience, Norwegian University of Science and Technology

Protein synthesis pioneers garner Kavli neuroscience prize

• “I am honored to receive this recognition and to share it with such outstanding fellow laureates,” — Kelsey Martin, Kavli Laureate in Neuroscience, Simons Foundation

Kelsey Martin Wins Kavli Prize in Neuroscience

• “I’m humbled and incredibly honored to be sharing this award with [Andrei and MacDonald],” — Pablo Jarillo-Herrero, Professor of Physics, MIT

Pablo Jarillo-Herrero wins Kavli Prize in Nanoscience

The laureates will present their work at the September ceremony in Oslo and will lead collaborative projects on twisted-layer heterostructures and synapse-targeted therapeutics in the coming year.

Pablo Jarillo-Herrero wins Kavli Prize in Nanoscience