Six scientists get Tan Kah Kee award

A science prize for young scientists named after the late overseas Chinese leader Tan Kah Kee was awarded on June 13.

The Tan Kah Kee Young Scientist Awards, established in 2010 by the Tan Kah Kee Science Award Foundation, is aimed at scientists under 40 dedicated to research work.

The winners are: Peng Chengzhi for Mathematics & Physics, Hu Jinbo for Chemistry, Song Baoliang for Life Sciences, Wang Yuming for Earth Sciences, Gao Huijun for Information Sciences and Cheng Yongjun for Technological Sciences.

Each award recipient gets 200,000 yuan ($31,400).

Before the award was established, scientists under 40 had few chances to win top honors in China.

"The country does not have enough outstanding young talents now, so we should exert every endeavor to support them", China's State Councilor Liu Yandong said at the award ceremony on June 13.

The average age of the 51 new members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences selected in Dec 2011 was 52.6. The new members are the youngest group to be selected since the 1990s.

"We are losing the most talented young people from China. The best students are learning abroad and they only come back after they reach a certain stage," said Muming Poo, a scientist who is a member of National Academy of Sciences of the US and a member of Chinese Academy of Science.

Poo asked decision-makers to provide more opportunities for young people.