Alexei Smirnov, who has been with the ICTP High Energy, Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics section since 1992, has been awarded the 2008 J.J. Sakurai Prize for Theoretical Particle Physics  by the American Physical Society "for pioneering and influential work on the enhancement of neutrino oscillations in matter, which is essential to a quantitative understanding of the solar neutrino flux".
He shares the prize with Stanislav Mikheyev. The J. J. Sakurai Prize will be presented at the APS April 2008 Meeting in St. Louis, MO, during a special ceremonial session.