Future Science Prize

The Future Science Prize (Chinese: 未來科學大獎) is a scientific award established in January 2016 by the Future Forum, a non-profit organization based in mainland China.[1] The award has sometimes been called "China's Nobel Prize" by the media.[2][3] It is awarded to outstanding scientists independently of their nationality, working on three main topics: life sciences, physical sciences, and mathematics and computer science (since 2017).[1][4]

The prize comes with a reward of ¥6,500,000 (approximately USD$1 million).[1][5]

Nomination is by invitation only, and the review and final decision is taken by a scientific committee.[1]

Laureates

Life Science Prize

Year Names Institution For
2016 Dennis Lo Chinese University of Hong Kong "his seminal contribution to the widely-used noninvasive prenatal test based on the original discovery of fetal DNA in maternal blood."[6]
2017 Shi Yigong Tsinghua University "his elucidation of high-resolution structures of the eukaryotic spliceosome, revealing the active-site and the molecular-level mechanism of this key complex in mRNA maturation."[7]
2018 Yuan Longping National Hybrid Rice Engineering Technology Research Center "pioneering the use of hybrid vigor to achieve higher yield and increased stress resistance in rice."[8]
Zhang Qifa Huazhong Agricultural University
Li Jiayang Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology
2019 Shao Feng National Institute of Biological Sciences, Beijing "his seminal discoveries of cytosolic LPS receptors and downstream effectors in inflammatory responses to pathogenic bacteria."[9]
2020 Zhang Tingdong Harbin Medical University "their discoveries of the therapeutic effects of arsenic trioxide and all trans-retinoic acid on acute promyelocytic leukemia."[10]
Zhenyi Wang Shanghai Jiao Tong University
2021 Yuen Kwok-yung University of Hong Kong "his discoveries of SARS-CoV-1 as the causative agent for the global SARS outbreak in 2003 and its zoonotic origin, with impact on combating Covid-19 and emerging infectious diseases."[11]
Malik Peiris
2022 Li Wenhui National Institute of Biological Sciences, Beijing "his discovery of the Hepatitis B and D virus receptor, sodium taurocholate cotransporting polypeptide (NTCP). This discovery facilitates the development of more effective treatment for hepatitis B and D."[12]
2023 Jijie Chai "the discovery of resistosomes and elucidation of their molecular structures and functions in plant immune responses against pathogens."[13]
Jian-Min Zhou
2024 Deng Hongkui Peking University "his pioneering work on using small molecules to change cell fate and state, in particular to reprogram somatic cells into pluripotent stem cells."[14]

Mathematics and Computer Science Prize

Year Names Institution For
2017 Chenyang Xu Peking University "his fundamental contributions to birational algebraic geometry."[15]
2018 Burn-Jeng Lin National Tsing Hua University "pioneering immersion lithography to continuously scale nano-metric integrated circuit fabrication, reviving and extending Moore’s law for multiple generations.".[16]
2019 Wang Xiaoyun Tsinghua University "her seminal contributions to cryptography by innovating cryptanalysis methods to reveal weaknesses of widely used hash functions, which have enabled new generation of cryptographic hash function standards."[17]
2020 Peng Shige Shandong University "his pioneering work on the theory of backward stochastic differential equations, nonlinear Feynman-Kac formula, and the theory of nonlinear expectations."[18]
2021 Simon Sze National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University "his contributions to understanding carrier transports at the interface between metal and semiconductor, enabling Ohmic and Schottky-contact formations for scaling integrated circuits at the “Moore’s law” rate during the past five decades."[19]
2022 Ngaiming Mok University of Hong Kong "developing the theory of Varieties of Minimal Rational Tangents in algebraic geometry to solve several long-standing problems and proving Ax-Schanuel’s conjecture for Shimura varieties."[20]
2023 Kaiming He "fundamental contributions to artificial intelligence by introducing deep residual learning."[21]
Jian Sun
Shaoqing Ren
Xiangyu Zhang
2024 Sun Binyong Zhejiang University "his remarkable contributions to the representation theory of Lie groups."[22]

Physical Science Prize

Year Names Institution For
2016 Xue Qikun Tsinghua University "his pioneer work in discoveries of novel quantum phenomena using molecular beam epitaxy, including quantum anomalous Hall effect and monolayer FeSe superconductivity."[23]
2017 Pan Jianwei University of Science and Technology of China "his innovative contributions to quantum optical technology, enabling practical implementation of secure communication through quantum key distribution."[24]
2018 Ma Dawei Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry "inventing new catalysts and chemical reactions, which opened avenues for synthesizing organic molecules, especially pharmaceutical molecules."[25]
Xiaoming Feng Sichuan University
Zhou Qilin Nankai University
2019 Yifan Wang Institute of High Energy Physics "the experimental discovery of a new type of neutrino oscillations, which opens the door for new physics beyond the Standard Model of particle physics, particularly for new CP violation which could be the key to understanding the matter-antimatter asymmetry in the Universe."[26]
Kam-Biu Luk University of California, Berkeley
2020 Lu Ke Institute of Metal Research "his pioneering work in synthesizing and discovering nano-twinned structure and gradient nanostructure that simultaneously exhibit superior strength, ductility and conductivity of copper."[27]
2021 Zhang Jie Shanghai Jiao Tong University "his development of laser-based fast electron beam technologies and their applications in ultrafast time-resolved electron microscopy and fast ignition for research towards inertial confinement fusion."[28]
2022 Xueming Yang Southern University of Science and Technology "developing new-generation molecular beam techniques with high resolution and sensitivity for state-resolved reaction dynamics studies, revealing quantum resonances and geometric phase effects in chemical reactions."[29]
Jie Zhang Shanghai Jiao Tong University
2023 Zhao Zhongxian "their seminal breakthroughs in the discovery of high-temperature superconducting materials and systematic advancements in elevating the transition temperature."[30]
Chen Xianhui
2024 Yadong Li Tsinghua University "their seminal contributions to the development and application of Single-Atom Catalysis."[31]
Zhang Tao Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics

Declined prizes

Physicist Lu Ke declined his award in 2020.[27][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "The Future Science Prize". Nature Advertisements. 2021.
  2. ^ "First winners of 'China's Nobel' prize announced - China". Chinadaily.com.cn. Retrieved 2022-06-21.
  3. ^ Cyranoski, David (2016). "China-only science prize honours pathologist and experimental physicist". Nature. doi:10.1038/nature.2016.20644. S2CID 114699291.
  4. ^ "AI researcher becomes youngest-ever winner of Future Science Prize". Young Post. 2023-08-22. Retrieved 2023-11-23.
  5. ^ "AI researcher becomes youngest-ever winner of Future Science Prize". Young Post. 2023-08-22. Retrieved 2023-11-23.
  6. ^ "2016 The Life Science Prize Laureates —— Yuk-Ming Dennis LO - Home-Future Science Prize". www.futureprize.org. Retrieved 2023-11-23.
  7. ^ "2017 The Life Science Prize Laureates —— Yigong SHI - Home-Future Science Prize". www.futureprize.org. Retrieved 2023-11-23.
  8. ^ "2018 The Life Science Prize Laureates —— Longping YUAN - Home-Future Science Prize". www.futureprize.org. Retrieved 2023-11-23.
  9. ^ "2019 The Life Science Prize Laureates —— Feng SHAO - Home-Future Science Prize". www.futureprize.org. Retrieved 2023-11-23.
  10. ^ "2020 The Life Science Prize Laureates —— Zhenyi WANG - Home-Future Science Prize". www.futureprize.org. Retrieved 2023-11-23.
  11. ^ "2021 The Life Science Prize Laureates —— Joseph Sriyal Malik PEIRIS - Home-Future Science Prize". www.futureprize.org. Retrieved 2023-11-23.
  12. ^ "2022 The Life Science Prize Laureates —— Wenhui LI - Home-Future Science Prize". www.futureprize.org. Retrieved 2023-11-23.
  13. ^ "2023 The Life Science Prize Laureates —— Jijie CHAI - Home-Future Science Prize". www.futureprize.org. Retrieved 2023-11-23.
  14. ^ "2024 The Life Science Prize Laureates —— Hongkui Deng - Home-Future Science Prize". www.futureprize.org. Retrieved 2024-08-22.
  15. ^ "2017 The Mathematics and Computer Science Prize Laureates —— Chenyang XU - Home-Future Science Prize". www.futureprize.org. Retrieved 2023-11-23.
  16. ^ "2018 The Mathematics and Computer Science Prize Laureates —— Burn J. LIN - Home-Future Science Prize". www.futureprize.org. Retrieved 2023-11-23.
  17. ^ "2019 The Mathematics and Computer Science Prize Laureates —— Xiaoyun WANG - Home-Future Science Prize". www.futureprize.org. Retrieved 2023-11-23.
  18. ^ "2020 The Mathematics and Computer Science Prize Laureates —— Shige PENG - Home-Future Science Prize". www.futureprize.org. Retrieved 2023-11-23.
  19. ^ "2021 The Mathematics and Computer Science Prize Laureates —— Simon SZE - Home-Future Science Prize". www.futureprize.org. Retrieved 2023-11-23.
  20. ^ "2022 The Mathematics and Computer Science Prize Laureates —— Ngaiming MOK - Home-Future Science Prize". www.futureprize.org. Retrieved 2023-11-23.
  21. ^ "2023 The Mathematics and Computer Science Prize Laureates —— Kaiming HE - Home-Future Science Prize". www.futureprize.org. Retrieved 2023-11-23.
  22. ^ "2024 The Mathematics and Computer Science Prize Laureates —— Binyong Sun - Home-Future Science Prize". www.futureprize.org. Retrieved 2024-08-22.
  23. ^ "2016 The Physical Science Prize Laureates —— Qikun XUE - Home-Future Science Prize". www.futureprize.org. Retrieved 2023-11-23.
  24. ^ "2017 The Physical Science Prize Laureates —— Jianwei PAN - Home-Future Science Prize". www.futureprize.org. Retrieved 2023-11-23.
  25. ^ "2018 The Physical Science Prize Laureates —— Qilin ZHOU - Home-Future Science Prize". www.futureprize.org. Retrieved 2023-11-23.
  26. ^ "2019 The Physical Science Prize Laureates —— Kam-Biu LUK - Home-Future Science Prize". www.futureprize.org. Retrieved 2023-11-23.
  27. ^ a b "2020 The Physical Science Prize Laureates —— Ke LU (declined) - Home-Future Science Prize". www.futureprize.org. Retrieved 2023-11-23.
  28. ^ "2021 The Physical Science Prize Laureates —— Jie ZHANG - Home-Future Science Prize". www.futureprize.org. Retrieved 2023-11-23.
  29. ^ "2022 The Physical Science Prize Laureates —— Xueming YANG - Home-Future Science Prize". www.futureprize.org. Retrieved 2023-11-23.
  30. ^ "2023 The Physical Science Prize Laureates —— Zhongxian ZHAO - Home-Future Science Prize". www.futureprize.org. Retrieved 2023-11-23.
  31. ^ "2024 The Physical Science Prize Laureates —— Yadong Li - Home-Future Science Prize". www.futureprize.org. Retrieved 2024-08-22.