A 89-year old nuclear physicist, Yu Min, has been awarded with the country's highest honor for scientific achievement, and given a cheque of $826,000.
Yu, regarded as the main architect behind China's hydrogen bomb, has been given the highest science award years after his main achievements.
He is the third nuclear scientist to be honored by this award after nuclear weapons experts Sun Jiadong in 2010 and Cheng Kaijia last year. Yu is one of 23 recipients of the "Two Bombs, One Satellite Achievement Medal", the country's top award to scientists contributing to China's nuclear and satellite projects.
Every year since 2000, China has been honoring two scientists, who have achieved breakthroughs in cutting-edge scientific and technological fields. Award receipents include seven foreign scientists and one overseas organization.
Meanwhile, Chinese authorities have expressed worry over academic dishonesty among a section of scientists, who have submitted papers for lesser awards.
"We found suspicious projects involving academic dishonesty during the review and dealt with the situation accordingly — some were disqualified from receiving the award this year, " Chen Zhimin, director of the Office for Science and Technology Awards, said.
Academic integrity was one of the key factors for the evaluation committee when it reviewed the projects this year, he said.
"To win recognition, some researchers focus on winning awards instead of concentrating on their studies. They repeatedly apply for the award and some apply with more than one project," Chen said.
This Office gave chose 318 scientific and technological research projects for State scientific and technological awards this year.
"The awards, as a trustful third-party evaluation system, aim to encourage researchers to continue their hard and meaningful work," Chen said. This year's award encourages researchers to concentrate on studies instead of rushing to apply for awards.
"Research is a process of accumulation. Being responsible for research outcomes is the duty of scientists," Zhou Qi, a developmental biologist from the Institute of Zoology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said.
"I always told my students that you have many opportunities to publish a new paper in your academic life, but it is impossible to withdraw any of your publications with a bad record from your resume.
"So take every experiment seriously and make sure every result is reliable. It is a must in research," Zhou said.
No comments:
Post a Comment