Ewin Tang Awarded 2025 Maryam Mirzakhani New Frontiers Prize

We’re delighted to share that Miller fellow and Simons Institute Quantum Pod postdoc Ewin Tang has been awarded the 2025 Maryam Mirzakhani New Frontiers Prize for “developing classical analogs of quantum algorithms for machine learning and linear algebra, and for advances in quantum machine learning on quantum data.”

Tang holds a PhD from the University of Washington, where she was advised by James Lee. Her research interests lie in quantum computing, learning theory, entanglement in quantum systems, and numerical linear algebra.

Tang’s research has helped demystify the boundary between classical and quantum computing, showing that certain tasks thought to require quantum speedups can, surprisingly, be performed efficiently on classical machines. This includes her 2018 work (as an undergraduate advised by Scott Aaronson) on recommendation systems, where she introduced a classical algorithm that matched the performance of a leading quantum algorithm, challenging the notion of quantum advantage in this area. 

“Ewin Tang’s work was a breath of fresh air that transformed our understanding of quantum-inspired algorithms for linear algebra. It was even more remarkable coming from someone so young,” says Simons Institute Research Director for Quantum Computing Umesh Vazirani, who is Tang’s Miller Fellowship host. 

Tang has also developed quantum algorithms that process quantum data directly, enabling tasks like estimating the characteristics of quantum states and learning the properties of quantum systems.

“I’m so honored to receive this award, especially as it’s named after such a brilliant mathematician, Maryam Mirzakhani,” says Tang. “I’m driven by a desire to understand quantum computers, with all their wrinkles and subtleties. It’s wonderful to see the results of this desire recognized, and I will continue chasing it for my future research.”

The Maryam Mirzakhani New Frontiers Prize of $50,000 is awarded by the Breakthrough Prize organization, and is presented each year to up to three early-career female mathematicians. The award honors the legacy of Maryam Mirzakhani (1977–2017), who in 2014 became the first woman to receive the Fields Medal.

We recommend checking out Ewin's recent interview with Quanta Magazine. 

Please join us in congratulating Ewin Tang!