4 mainland China scientists to be honoured at Future Science Prize ceremony in Hong Kong
- Deng Hongkui, Li Yadong, Zhang Tao and Sun Binyong will be recognised for their contributions to life sciences, physics and mathematics
Four mainland Chinese scientists have been named as winners of this year’s Future Science Prize, the country’s first privately funded science award, with the award ceremony to be held in Hong Kong for the second time in a row.
The ceremony will also wrap up the “Future Science Prize Week” series of events between October 30 and November 3, which will feature a youth dialogue with this year’s laureates.
Professor Shu Chi-wang, chairman of the event’s science committee, highlighted how one awardee received 17 peer review letters this year from international colleagues hailing from multiple renowned universities across the Americas, Europe and Asia.
“I hope that the awardees of the Future Science Prize will multiply like stars … their contributions will be as wide as the galaxy and illuminate every corner of the halls of science,” he said.
The award is split into three categories, namely life science, physical science, and mathematics and computer science. Each prize comes with a reward of US$1 million.
Inaugurated as China’s first privately funded science award in 2016, the Future Science Prize recognises scientists who have made groundbreaking scientific and technological achievements in the Greater China region, regardless of nationality.
The life science prize went to Deng Hongkui from Peking University, who was recognised for his work on using small molecules to change cell fate and state, especially in reprogramming somatic cells into pluripotent stem cells.