Six pairs of researchers received the 2012 CAS International Cooperation Award for Young Scientists at a ceremony on Aug. 30 in Beijing.  

The award, which was launched in 2011, honors young international scientists and their CAS collaborators for innovative research undertaken through the academy.  

CAS Vice President ZHANG Yaping conferring certificate on young international scientists. (Image by CAS)

This year’s winners include: Dr. XU Hongxing and Dr. Ulf Håkanson (Sweden), who began collaborating on nanophotonics and nanoelectronics in 2007; Dr. XU Ke and Dr. Dmitrii Zherebtcov (Russia), who have cooperated on developing equipment and processes for the bulk growth of gallium nitride (GaN) crystals; Dr. YANG Yungui and Dr. Jannie Danielsen (Denmark), who have conducted research on how RNA epigenetic control and DNA repair act in concert to maintain genomic structure and stability; Dr. WANG Tieyu and Dr. Khim Jong Seong (Republic of Korea), who have cooperated since 2007 on researching pollutants in and around the Yellow Sea and Bohai Gulf; Dr. LIN Ribai and Dr. Joseph P. Botting (UK), who have studied the evolution of early sponges and provided new insights on the Ordovician radiation of marine life; andDr. SHI Xun and Dr. G. Jeffrey Snyder (USA), who have collaborated on the study of novel thermoelectric materials.  

Speaking at the award ceremony, CAS Vice President ZHANG Yaping said the awardees, along with several hundred other young foreign scientists working at CAS, are a “golden bridge linking China and CAS with the rest of the world.” He also said foreign scientists have enriched CAS’s cultural diversity and improved the performance and productivity of the academy’s staff.  

The annual award, which is given to no more than eight research pairs each year, aims to encourage long-term international scientific partnership between young CAS researchers and foreign scientists.  

The academy has launched a Visiting Professorship for Senior International Scientists program and a Fellowship for Young International Scientists program, in order to “encourage international collaboration and build CAS into a global center of excellence in science, education and innovation,” said TAN Tieniu, deputy secretary-general of CAS. Several recipients of the 2012 International Cooperation Award for Young Scientists have received support through these programs.