Mustafa(pbuh) Prize News

New Documentary Explores Life and Science of Mustafa^(pbuh) Prize Laureate

2026/01/05

MSTF Media reports:
A documentary on Professor Cumrun Vafa, one of the laureates of the 2021 Mustafa^(pbuh) Prize has recently, been produced.
The 49-minute document traces Vafa’s childhood and academic journey, including his visit to his motherland in 2023, when he received the Mustafa^(pbuh) Prize and took part in Science Cafes and scientific lectures at Sharif University of Technology. The film features conversations with Vafa reflecting on his research career in both Iran and the United States.
Parts of the documentary include interviews with Hessamaddin Arfaei, professor of Physics at Sharif University of Technology, who recounts his first encounter with Vafa when he was one of the students of the renowned theoretical physicist, Edward Witten. The documentary also features interviews with Vafa’s students who talk about his personal characteristics and teaching style. 
Born in 1960, Vafa graduated from Alborz High School in Tehran—a place he visits every time he is in Iran. He pursued his graduate studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Princeton University.
A leading theoretical physicist, Vafa is known for his contributions to string theory. In 2017, he was awarded the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics. In the documentary, Vafa explains how string theory connects Einstein’s theory of relativity to quantum physics, reconciling the two areas of physics. Aside from answering fundamental questions about dark matter and the origins of the world, string theory, he notes, accounts for the basic rules of our universe. 
In 2021, Vafa was named a Mustafa^(pbuh) Prize laureate alongside Zahid Hasan. Yahya Tayaalti, Mohamed Sayegh, and Muhammad Iqbal Choudhary were selected as the Mustafa^(pbuh) Prize laureates from Islamic countries in the same edition. 
Vafa has donated his cash prize to support the establishment