2016 Dongrun-Yau Science Award Ceremony Held at Tsinghua University
The Dongrun-Yau Science Award Ceremony was held in the Main Building of Tsinghua University on December 17, 2016. Fields medallist, Harvard professor Shing-Tung Yau, Chairman and CEO of Taikang Life Insurance Group Dongsheng Chen, member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Vice President of Tsinghua University Qikun Xue, member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences Lo Yang, President of Dongrun Foundation Dongmei Kong, well-known entrepreneurs and scholars from top institutions around the world attended the ceremony.
Vice President of Tsinghua University Qikun Xue said when he addressed the audience that the Dongrun-Yau Award created a stage for high school students to show their talents and built a road that leads them into the world of science. He said to the students that “though it may be a road strewn with thorn, please remember the starting point where you stand today. It is an exciting beginning. You are at the golden years of your lives, filled with a passion for science and devoted to your studies fearlessly. All the efforts and the little steps you take will eventually lead to your very own achievements in science.”
Professor Shing-Tung Yau highly praised this year’s competition
Dongrun-Yau Science Award has successfully held 9 sessions. The competition has already reached 28 provinces and autonomous regions in China as well as a number of other countries. Up till now, a total of 248 teams, 465 students won the awards. This year 1153 teams from home and abroad joined the competition and over 110 students made it to the national finals – the biggest year since the Award established in 2008. With over 30 masters from various fields of study, the panel of experts at the final competitions also attracted wide attention. More than 100 scholars from top universities around the world joined the tutoring and review work.
After two days of intense presentation and interview on December 15th and 16th, winners of this year’s Dongrun-Yau Award were finally announced. Shilun Li from Guangdong Experimental High School won the 2016 Gold Award in Mathematics. Hongjun Lin, Ziye Hong and Zixiao Xu from Guangzhou No.6 Middle School won the Gold Award in Physics. Lan Zhuang from Beijing National Day School won the Gold Award in Chemistry. Shun Li from the Affiliated High School of South China Normal University won the Gold Award in Biology. Among the gold award winners from four categories, Shilun Li from Guangdong Experimental High School received this year’s ultimate prize, the Dongrun-Yau Gold Award, for his outstanding overall performance.
With two new categories – Chemistry and Biology established in 2016, Dongrun-Yau Science Award now covers four basic fields of science. Based on the awards for mathematics, physics, chemistry and biology, Dongrun-Yau Award has built up a new training system for high school student that encourages them to devote to scientific research and innovation. This year Dongrun-Yau Science Award set up a special Gold Award. Recipient of this ultimate prize is elected from the gold award winners of the four categories. Besides a sufficient accumulation of knowledge in basic subjects, modern scientific research also requires interdisciplinary thinking, with which many important breakthroughs were achieved. Professor Shing-Tung Yau explained that “science development is interdisciplinary. The next few decades is expected to be an era of interdisciplinary studies. Therefore I hope our students will be open-minded and extend their interests to areas other than their own fields of study and reach higher goals in science.”
Professor Shing-Tung Yau (second from left), Nobel Laureate in Economics Eric Maskin (first from left), member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences Lo Yang (first from right), and President of Dongrun Foundation Dongmei Kong (second from right) presenting the award to the winner of 2016 gold award in mathematics Shilun Li.
According to President of Dongrun Foundation Dongmei Kong, the idea of evaluation at Dongrun-Yau Science Award has always been “select the best from the best”. All the judges are scholars from prestigious universities around the world and winners of the highest honors in the academic circle. “We have the best teachers here,” Kong stated, “as well as the best students. The Science Award is not merely about finding future stars in science. It is about providing guidance and training for outstanding high school students who are dedicated to the pursuit of truth. These are students with talents, a passion for science and richly accumulated knowledge. We are here to encourage them to discover the fun of scientific research and explore their own potentials of innovation, and help them to be better prepared for future challenges and achieve their personal goals.”
Professor Shing-Tung Yau highly praised the competition and expressed how “excited” he was about the event. He has always hoped to see China as a leading country in the science world, a great country with great science power. “The young students I see here today, they are full of passion. They are willing to work hard, to devote time and energy for science and produce splendid results. This is the promise of a bright future for our country, and there is no doubt that China is on the fast-track to become a top figure in world science.” Professor Yau said in the end, “It is my wish to train a large number of young Chinese talents. I sincerely hope these students will grow up to be useful people to our country, to the world, to the development of science.”
Statistics show that over 20 Dongrun-Yau Award winners had been accepted to Tsinghua, Peking, Harvard, MIT, Princeton, Yale and other top universities around the world. Of the 24 mathematics award winners from 2015 alone, one third went on to elite schools abroad for higher education. On behalf of Dongrun Foundation, Dongmei Kong expressed high expectations for the students: “If the establishment of Dongrun-Yau Award was sowing thousands of seeds for science, now we can say that the seedlings are starting to grow.”