Breakthrough Junior Challenge Announces 2025 Finalists

Sixteen Student Finalists Advance in the 11th Annual Global Science Challenge

SAN FRANCISCO – Dec. 10, 2025 – The Breakthrough Prize Foundation today announced the finalists for the eleventh annual Breakthrough Junior Challenge – 16 remarkable students from around the world who created short videos illustrating major science concepts in the areas of life sciences, physics, and mathematics.

This group includes the top scorer of the online ‘Popular Vote’ portion of the global competition, which accounts for voting from the public.

The finalists are:

  • Chloe Suh, 17, United States
  • Isabella Wu, 18, United States
  • Grace Yihua Lee, 17, United States
  • Matea Cañizares, 17, Ecuador
  • Adam Rakhmanov, 17, United States
  • Isabel Shiju, 16, India
  • David George, 18, Canada
  • Janine Andrea B. Emmanuel, 17, Philippines
  • Luke Esperanza, 17, United States
  • Aaryan Prabhaker, 14, United Kingdom
  • Ryan Zhao, 17, United States
  • Tomiris Abylkairova, 17, Kazakhstan
  • Anie Udofia, 15, Canada
  • Henry Chuang, 16, Canada
  • Zachary Tan, 17, Philippines
  • Isabella Leonel Lelles, 17, Brazil

All videos can be viewed at breakthroughjuniorchallenge.org/winners.

Isabella Leonel Lelles, 17, from Brazil, was the overall top scorer in the Popular Vote contest with more than 66,000 likes for her video on the protein folding problem. As a result, Isabella Leonel Lelles will receive automatic entry into the final round of judging that determines the winner of the Breakthrough Junior Challenge.

The contest will award a total of $400,000 for the winning entry, including $250,000 in educational prizes for the student winner, $50,000 for their inspirational teacher, and a state-of-the art science laboratory designed by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and valued at $100,000.

Additionally, Popular Vote Regional Champions were named for each of the seven geographic regions.

They are:

  • Daniel Adeluyi, 18, Nigeria (Middle East / Africa)
  • Grace Guo, 15, Canada (North America)
  • Isabella Leonel Lelles, 17, Brazil (South / Central America)
  • Shivangi Sharma, 16, Singapore (Asia)
  • Emya Jain, 14, India (India)
  • Maxim Kyrychuk, 16, United Kingdom (Europe)
  • Rachel Mathews, 18, Australia (Australia / New Zealand)

The Popular Vote contest ran from Monday, November 24 through Tuesday, December 9 on the Breakthrough Prize Facebook and YouTube pages, and invited the public to vote for their favorite semifinalists by “liking” the videos. Collectively, during the 16-day contest, the 30 videos were viewed more than 300,000 times, helping to teach and inspire minds across the globe.

This year the Breakthrough Junior Challenge attracted more than 2500 applicants. Since its launch in 2015, the Challenge has received almost 30,000 submissions from more than 200 countries. Submissions were narrowed down to 30 semifinalists, which represented the top submissions after two rounds of judging: first, a mandatory peer review, followed by an evaluation panel of judges.

Past Breakthrough Junior Challenge winners have hailed from Canada, India, Mauritius, Peru, the Philippines, Singapore, and the United States. Alumni have gone on to attend institutions including MIT, Harvard, Princeton, and Stanford.

The finalist videos will be reviewed by the Selection Committee, comprising of: Thea Booysen, MsC, social media director for neurologist Dr. Richard Isaacson and founder of MadeByHuman; Rachel Crane, space and science correspondent, CNN; Pascale Ehrenfreund, PhD, president, Committee on Space Research COSPAR; Dennis Gaitsgory, professor, Max Planck Institute for Mathematics, and Breakthrough Prize in Mathematics Laureate; John Grunsfelt, PhD astronaut, associate administrator for science, chief scientist at NASA Headquarters; Mae Jemison, physician, former astronaut, entrepreneur; Jeffery W. Kelly, professor of chemistry, Scripps Research Institute and Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences laureate; Scott Kelly, retired NASA astronaut; Salman Khan, founder and CEO, Khan Academy; Ijad Madisch, CEO, co-founder, ResearchGate; Samaya Nissanke, University of Amsterdam, Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics laureate; Nicole Stott, NASA astronaut, and co-founder of the Space for Art Foundation; Andrew Strominger, professor of physics, Harvard University, and Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics laureate; Terence Tao, UCLA professor and Breakthrough Prize in Mathematics laureate; Esther Wojcicki, founder, Palo Alto High Media Arts Center; Richard Youle, National Institutes of Health, and Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences laureate; and S. Pete Worden, chairman, Breakthrough Prize Foundation.

For the 11th year, students ages 13-18 were invited to create original videos (up to two minutes in length) that illustrated a concept or theory in the area of life sciences, physics or mathematics.

The submissions were evaluated based on the students’ ability to communicate complex scientific ideas in the most engaging, illuminating and imaginative ways.

The Breakthrough Junior Challenge, co-founded by Julia and Yuri Milner, is a global science video competition, aiming to develop and demonstrate young people’s knowledge of science and scientific principles and communications skills; generate excitement in these fields; support STEM career choices; and engage the imagination and interest of the public-at-large in key concepts of fundamental science.

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