A professor with the Physics Department of Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) has won the 2020 Xplorer Prize, according to a list released by the Tencent Foundation on Friday.
Zhang Liyuan was among 50 science professionals under 45 years old who won the prize, which was launched by tech giant Tencent in 2018 to support research and development in life sciences, advanced manufacturing and other key science and technologies fields.
Prize winners will receive 600,000 yuan (US$87,960) annually for five consecutive years to support their exploration in fundamental science and cutting-edge core technologies.
Zhang, a researcher in quantum topology effect, joined SUSTech in 2014 and has had more than 30 articles published in Nature, Natural Physics, Nature Communications, Advanced Materials, Advanced Functional Materials and Physical Review Letters.
In January this year, the experimental proof of the 3-D Quantum Hall effect by Zhang’s research group was selected as one of the 10 most important steps forward in Chinese science and technology in 2019 by the Hi-Tech Research and Development Center under the Ministry of Science and Technology. The experimental proof was published in Nature.
Among the 50 winners, six of them were under the age of 35 and five of them were female. They were selected from more than 1,200 applicants through four rounds of selections. The award ceremony will be held in Beijing on Nov. 14.
The Xplorer Prize is a non-governmental, nonprofit and public benefit award designed and run by a select group of scientists.
It was jointly initiated in 2018 by Ma Huateng, chairman and chief executive officer of Tencent and founder of the Tencent Foundation, Nobel laureate Yang Zhenning, Professor Rao Yi of Peking University and other renowned professors in China.