AsianScientist (Nov. 23, 2016) – Chinese materials scientist Zhao Dongyuan was named winner of the 2016 TWAS-Lenovo Science Prize for his work discovering new materials that are now widely used. The award, one of the most prestigious honors given to scientists from the developing world, was announced in a special ceremony during the yearly General Meeting of The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS).

Zhao is a 2010 TWAS Fellow and a chemistry professor at Fudan University in Shanghai, China. His work focuses on mesoporous materials, structures that feature tiny, microscopic holes. Across two decades, his research and nano-scale applications have been used to clean water for drinking and agriculture, improve the capacity and efficiency of batteries, and deliver drugs with pinpoint precision in human bodies.

The annual prize includes an award of US$100,000 provided by the Chinese technology company Lenovo, a global leader in consumer, commercial, and enterprise technology that is one of the the largest PC companies in the world.

“Professor Zhao’s body of research exhibits the highest values of scientific inquiry,” said TWAS Executive Director Mohamed Hassan. “Materials science requires advanced knowledge of fundamental science. But Professor Zhao develops applications with a direct usefulness in people’s lives—clean water, energy and health. Such innovative research is deserving of our Academy’s highest honor.”

Zhao said he is gratified by the award, partly because it was an opportunity to highlight his field of research and the vast diversity of potential applications.

“It is a great honour to get the award,” he said. “I would like to see more applications for developing countries that would economically benefit.”

This is the fourth year of the TWAS-Lenovo Science Prize, the successor to the Ernesto Illy Trieste Science Prize that ran for eight years previously. During its first four-year cycle (2013-2016), the TWAS-Lenovo Prize has focused on recognizing outstanding work in the basic sciences, with the subject area changing each year: physics and astronomy in 2013; biological sciences in 2014; mathematics in 2015; and chemical sciences in 2016.

The prize will continue for four more years, honoring work in geology in 2017, engineering in 2018, agricultural science in 2019 and social science in 2020.



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Source: The World Academy of Sciences.

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