Returning the favour: ‘China’s Nobels’ reward world-class researchers bringing top talent home
Mainland China’s richest science prize recognises recipients for work on molecular structures, quantum satellites and algebraic geometry
A decade ago, biophysicist Shi Yigong answered the call from his home country, resigning from Princeton University and heading back to China for good.
On the weekend, Shi, dean of Tsinghua University’s life sciences school, was awarded US$1 million as one of three recipients of this year’s Future Science Prize, a series launched last year as China’s version of the Nobels.
Quantum satellite researcher Professor Pan Jianwei, 47, picked up the award for physical sciences while Peking University’s Xu Chenyang, 36, was the recipient in mathematics and computer science.
Shi said the award for his work on the structure of molecular complexes called spliceosome reaffirmed his decision to return to China. It was also recognition of a team effort.
“To a great extent, I have given this prize because of the nation’s continuous investment in fundamental science in the past decade,” NetEase news portal 163.com quoted him as saying.