ILQGS
ISLQG
ISLQG
21 June 2026
Past Recipients of the Matvei Petrovich Bronstein Prize
2024 · Beatriz Elizaga Navascués
Dr. Beatriz Elizaga Navascués is a European theoretical physicist from Spain, who is an assistant professor at the University of Castilla-La Mancha in Toledo (Spain). In 2017, she received her PhD from an integrated programme between Universidad Complutense de Madrid and the Institute for the Structure of Matter (CSIC, Madrid). She held postdoctoral positions in Germany (FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg), Japan (Waseda University, Tokyo) and the U.S.A. (Lousiana State University).
During the Loops '24 conference at Florida Atlantic University (Fort Lauderdale, FL, U.S.A.), Dr. Elizaga Navascués was presented with the 2024 Bronstein Prize
[f]or her exceptional contributions to the quantization of mini and midi superspace models in loop quantum gravity, covering conceptual, mathematical and observatzional aspects.
2022 · Daniele Pranzetti
Dr. Daniele Pranzetti is a European theoretical physicist from Italy, who is currently a junior faculty member (tenure track) at the Department of Mathematics, Computer Science and Physics of the Università degli Studi di Udine, Udine, Italy. He received his PhD from Aix-Marseille Université (France) in 2011. He held postdoctoral positions in Germany (Albert-Einstein-Institut and FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg), Italy (SISSA, Trieste) and Canada (Perimeter Institute, Waterloo), followed by a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship of the European Commission in 2020.
During the Loops '22 conference at ENS Lyon, Dr. Pranzetti was presented with the 2022 Bronstein Prize
[f]or the breadth of his contributions to quantum gravity using a variety of methods, in particular his work on the nature of quantum gravitational degrees of freedom, the relation between LQG and symmetry-reduced models, edge modes and holography, and on bridges to other approaches to quantum gravity.
2019 · Wolfgang Wieland
Dr. Wolfgang Wieland is a European theoretical physicist from Austria, who is currently a junior group leader at FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg. He received his PhD from Aix-Marseille Université (Centre de Physique Théorique) in 2013. He was a postdoc in the USA (Penn State), Canada (Perimeter Institute), Austria (IQOQI-Vienna) and Germany (FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg), before receiving a Heisenberg fellowship at the German Research Federation (DFG) in 2024.
During the Loops '19 conference at Penn State, he received the 2019 Bronstein Prize
[f]or his exceptional creativity and independence, and for deep insights into spinorial and twistorial methods that led to new perspectives for the spinfoam formalism.
2017 · Mercedes Martín Benito
Dr. Mercedes Martín Benito is a European theoretical physicist and professor of physics in Spain. In 2020, she received her PhD from Universidad Complutense de Madrid, followed by postdoctoral positions in Germany (MPI für Gravitationsphysik), Canada (Perimeter Institute), the Netherlands (Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen) and Portugal (Universidad de Lisboa). She is currently a profesora titular de universidad at the Theoretical Physics Department of Complutense University of Madrid.
During the Loops '19 conference at the University of Warsaw, she was presented with the 2019 Bronstein Prize
[f|or her outstanding contributions to inhomogeneous Loop Quantum Comology.
2015 · Edward Wilson-Ewing
Dr. Edward Wilson-Ewing is a Canadian theoretical physicist from Québec, who is a professor at the University of New Brunswick in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, as well as an affiliate member of the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics. Dr. Wilson-Ewing received his Ph.D. from the Pennsylvania State University (USA) in 2013, and held postdoctoral positions in France (Centre de Physique Théorique, Marseille), the USA (Louisiana State University) and Germany (Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics, Potsdam).
During the Loops '15 conference at FAU Erlangen Nuremberg, he received the Matvei Petrovich Bronstein Prize
[f]or wide-ranging contributions to various aspects of loop quantum gravity, especially to the conceptual, mathematical and phenomenological applications to the very early universe.
2013 · Eugenio Bianchi
Dr. Eugenio Bianchi is a European theoretical physicist, who is currently a Professor of Physics at the Pennsylvania State University (USA). He received his PhD in 2010 from the Scuola Normale di Pisa (Italy), followed by postdoctoral positions at the Centre de Physique Théorique in Marseille (France) and at the Perimeter Institute (Canada). He received numerous fellowships and awards, including a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship of the European Commission, a Banting Fellowship of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, and the Buchalter Cosmology Prize.
During the Loops '13 conference held at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, Dr. Bianchi was awarded the inaugural Bronstein Prize
[f]or his insightful contributions to black hole entropy, the discrete geometry of quantum spacetime and the propagation of gravitons thereon, and for his inspiring enthusiasm and collaborative spirit.
N.B.: All pictures are from around the time the award was conferred.