The Human Frontier Science Program Organization (HFSPO) is pleased to announce that President Prof. Akito Arima and Secretary General Prof. Ernst-Ludwig Winnacker are among the 7 recipients of the 2009 International Science and Technology Cooperation Award of the People's Republic of China. Their awards were presented at a ceremony in Beijing on January 11th in the presence of Chinese President Hu Jintao, Prime Minister Wen Jiabao and many other high-ranking government members.
Profs. Arima and Winnacker were honoured for their long-standing contributions to international cooperation with China. Prof. Arima, an eminent physicist and former President of the University of Tokyo, has held high office in Japan as Minister of Education, Science and Culture and Minister of Science and Technology. He has contributed greatly to the cooperation between China and Japan in scientific and science policy matters. Prof. Winnacker is a prominent biologist who has served as President of the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft – DFG) and as the first Secretary General of the European Research Council. He has promoted a number of initiatives to enhance scientific cooperation between China and Germany, in particular the establishment of joint research institutions and measures aimed a nurturing excellent young scientists.
HFSPO congratulates Profs. Arima and Winnacker for receiving this award, which recognizes their commitment to promoting scientific excellence throughout the world.
The International Science and Technology Cooperation Award was established in 1995 and is conferred by the State Council of the People's Republic of China on only a few foreign scientists or scientific organizations every year.
The Human Frontier Science Program Organization was founded in 1989 to support international research and training at the frontier of the life sciences with particular emphasis on research at the interface between life sciences and the physical sciences and on creating opportunities for young scientists. It is supported by contributions from Australia, Canada, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland, the United States of America, the United Kingdom and the European Commission, representing the non-G7 states of the European Union. With its collaborative research grants and postdoctoral fellowship programs it has supported approximately 5500 scientists from 65 countries, including China, over the last 20 years.