What’s new: Six Chinese scientists working in the U.S. and one of Chinese descent have been named finalists of the Blavatnik National Awards for Young Scientists, which recognize the “most promising faculty-rank researchers” in Life Sciences, Physical Sciences and Engineering, and Chemistry in the U.S.
The founders of the awards, the Blavatnik Family Foundation and the New York Academy, announced the list of 31 finalists on June 15. The awards cover scientists under the age of 42.
The finalists in chemistry included Wei Min, a physical chemist from Columbia University, and Wenjun Zhang, a chemical engineer from University of California, Berkeley.
The finalists in the life sciences category include Kaiyu Guan, an environmental scientist from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Stanley Qi, a bioengineer from Stanford University.
Liangbing Hu, a nanotechnologist from the University of Maryland, College Park, Guihua Yu, a materials scientist and nanotechnologist from the University of Texas at Austin, and Kay M. Tye from the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, a scientist of Chinese descent, are among the finalists in the category of physical sciences and engineering.
The background: The finalists were selected from 298 nominations by 157 U.S. research institutions, according to the founders of the awards. Three winners will be announced on July 20 and an awards ceremony will be held on Sept. 28 at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. The three winners each receive $250,000 in prize money.
Hu and Min were also named in last year’s list, which had five scientists from China or of Chinese descent, including structural biologist Nieng Yan from Princeton University.
Contact reporter Cai Xuejiao (xuejiaocai@caixin.com) and editor Michael Bellart (michaelbellart@caixin.com)
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