One of the noteworthy things about the 2005 National Science and
Technology Awards that were presented during China's Fourth
National Conference on Science and Technology held on Monday in
Beijing was that awardees were getting younger and younger.
Further, more award-projects had their own patents. More important
though was that returning scientists are taking a leading role in
scientific research in China.
According to statistics, winners under 45 accounted for 60.9
percent, those aged between 45 to 60 accounted for 23 percent, and
others accounted for 16.1 percent. Of the award-winning projects,
73.7 percent were conducted by returning scientists. Scientists
returning from overseas also accounted for 30 percent of winners of
the National Technical Invention Award, and the Award for
Scientific and Technological Progress.
Professor Zhang Weiping from Nankai University, the second-prize
winner of the National Natural Science Award, returned to China in
1993 after obtaining his PhD from Paris South University, France.
He has been engaged in the research of the Atiyah-Singer Index
Theorem, one of the most active research areas of international
mainstream mathematics. He was admitted as an academician to the
Third World Academy of Sciences in 2001. Currently, he is the head
of the Chen Xingsheng Mathematics Research Institute of Nankai
University.
Researcher Chen Jianping, who came in second for the National
Award for Scientific and Technological Progress, returned to China
in 1995 after obtaining his PhD in the United Kingdom. He has
achieved a series of important results in the research of plant
viruses, and has made key contributions to China's research in this
field.
Also notable is the fact that more emphasis has been placed on
intellectual property rights (IPR), as was discovered during the
appraisal process for the National Sci-Tech Awards. Projects
awarded with the 2005 National Technical Invention Award, and 27.8
percent of projects that won awards for Scientific and
Technological Progress had registered patents. One of the projects
had 26 registered patents, including four international
patents.
Another positive result was that China's 31 provinces,
autonomous regions and municipalities all presented award-winning
projects, which will certainly encourage greater human and
financial support for national and regional development
strategies.
(China.org.cn by Wang Qian, January 11, 2006)