Distinguished experts receives award for cultural relic conservation
Besides US conservation specialist Neville Agnew and Chinese-American neurobiologist Mu-ming Poo, German scientist Wolf-Dieter Dudenhausen, Dutch botanist Evert Jacobsen and British chemist David G Evans also received the 2005 International Scientific and Technological Co-operation Award of China in Beijing last month.
Wolf-Dieter Dudenhausen, Germany
Dudenhausen, 66, has contributed to the Sino-German science and technology co-operation since the mid-1980s.
He used to be the state secretary of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research of Germany. Dudenhausen has boosted the establishment of the Sino-German Electronic and Information Technology Agency and bridged the co-operation among more than 500 enterprises and research institutes in both countries.
He has also helped shape the joint Software Technology Institute and the Mobile Telecommunication Institute, both of which are involved in top-level information technology studies. Also with his effort, the Partner Institute for Computational Biology was co-launched by the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Max-Planck Gesellschaft in Germany.
Evert Jacobsen, Netherlands
Jacobsen, 59, is a world-famous plant scientist and now has his main office in the Wageningen University and Research Centre.
Having dedicated himself to the Sino-Dutch co-operation in agricultural sciences and technology, Jacobsen invited the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences as the first international partner of the Potato Genome Sequencing Consortium, which he initiated. By participating in the programme, China was able to ascend into a leading position in researching potato genetics and breeding.
He has also successfully co-ordinated the Sino-Dutch Strategic Alliance Project, which absorbed 4 million euros (US$4.84 million) to build a platform for bilateral co-operation in basic science and advanced technology. He also introduced new technology to support potato breeding in China and introduced more Dutch funding to support a laboratory building in the country.
David G Evans, United Kingdom
Dr Evans, 48, is a fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry of the United Kingdom. Since 1996, he has conducted a joint innovative research programme in layered and pillared layered materials with the Beijing University of Chemical Technology (BUCT).
With his support, researchers in China have made prominent achievements in the field both academically and economically.
Beginning 2000, Evans has invited leading foreign scholars to give lectures in China. With his effort, the modern chemistry institute of the BUCT became the only Chinese participant in the NANOFUN-POLY Network of Excellence, funded under the European Union Sixth Framework Programme.