Russian wins $3 million prize in physics

A Russian physicist has won one of the world’s most prestigious scientific awards.

The physicist, a researcher at Princeton University, Alexander Polyakov, received the award for discoveries he made in field and string theories.

The award which also includes a financial prize in the amount of $3 million, was established last year by the Russian entrepreneur Yury Milner, who is the co-owner of the Mail.ru Group and DST foundation.

Polyakov was selected as the winner of the main prize, called the Fundamental Physics Prize from among five other winners in the category "Cutting Edge of Physics."

The ceremony took place on Wednesday night in Geneva.