Chinese physicist hit by US visa delay misses out on collecting prestigious science award
- Quantum physicist Pan Jianwei was a no show in Washington on February 14 thanks to a delay in getting his US travel visa
- Collaboration between US and mainland scientific communities could be at risk amid tightened US border security measures
Chinese quantum physicist Pan Jianwei was unable to attend a science award ceremony in Washington in February because of a US visa delay, underscoring tensions between Washington and Beijing that are having a negative impact on scientific collaboration, according to experts.
Forty-nine year old Pan and a 34-member team he led were awarded the 2018 Newcomb Cleveland Prize.
Established in 1923, the annual prize is the oldest awarded by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). The prize, which names the most academically valuable paper published in Science magazine each year, was awarded to Pan and his research team for 2018, reflecting the first time scientists from the mainland have won the accolade in its 95-year history.
Unfortunately, without a US visa, Pan missed the awards ceremony on February 14.
However, a member of Pan’s team, Professor Yin Juan of the University of Science and Technology of China, was granted a US visa and travelled to Washington to attend the ceremony.
Pan’s team won the prize for research in the quantum field that helped lay ground for enhanced communication security. The scientists authored the paper, “Satellite-based entanglement distribution over 1200 kilometers,” which describes an exponential increase in the distance at which particles can remain in a state called quantum entanglement.