The University of Connecticut School of Computing is pleased to share that professor Alexander Russell has been awarded a 2026 Frontiers of Science Award, a prestigious international distinction recognizing exceptional research contributions in the basic sciences.

Presented under the auspices of the International Congress of Basic Science (ICBS), the Frontiers of Science Award was established in 2023 and honors research of outstanding originality, scholarly value, and impact that advances fundamental understanding and inspires future breakthroughs.

Russell’s recognized paper introduced Ouroboros, a foundational proof-of-stake blockchain protocol that demonstrated how strong blockchain security guarantees can be achieved without the energy-intensive proof-of-work approach used by systems such as Bitcoin.

For the 2026 cycle, a select group of papers across mathematics, physics, and information sciences and engineering were recognized from a global pool, highlighting significant scientific advances and breakthrough contributions in basic science.

The award includes an invitation to attend the International Congress of Basic Science, which will be held in Beijing in August 2026.

Learn more:
• https://www.icbs.cn/
• https://eprint.iacr.org/2016/889

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