The 2026 Kavli Prize in Astrophysics has been awarded to Vasily Belokurov, Amina Helmi, and Rodrigo Ibata for compelling evidence that the Milky Way grew through hierarchical accretion of smaller dwarf galaxies.

A Physics World Weekly podcast features an interview with Amina Helmi and Per Barth Lilje, discussing the Milky Way’s history, hierarchical accretion, dark matter, cosmology, and future research prospects.

The laureates will share a prize of $1 million, distributed equally among the three winners.

The award ceremony is slated for September in Oslo.

The podcast episode is sponsored by The Kavli Prize and highlights how the laureates’ work supports the mergers-driven formation scenario of the Milky Way.

The laureates are affiliated with Cambridge University in the UK, the Kapteyn Astronomical Institute at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, and the University of Strasbourg in France, respectively.