Qiu Shi Science & Technologies Foundation
The Qiu Shi Science & Technologies Foundation was established by Mr. CHA Chi Ming (1914-2007) and his family in Hong Kong in 1994. The primary mission of the Foundation is to promote scientific and technological progress to benefit mankind.
The Honourable CHA Chi-Ming, G.B.M., J.P.
1997 Grand Bauhinia Medal by The Government of the HKSAR
The Foundation’s initial scientific advisory board consisted of internationally renowned scholars includes Professors Yuantseh LEE, Guangzhao ZHOU, Yuetwai KAN, Shiing-Shen CHERN and Chenning YANG.
Initial Scientific Advisory Board in 1995
Back row (left to right): Yuantseh LEE (李远哲) , Guangzhao ZHOU (周光召), Yuetwai KAN (简悦威)
Front row (left to right): Chiming CHA (查济民), Shiing-Shen CHERN (陈省身), Chenning YANG (杨振宁)
In the early 1990’s, China’s economic development was still in its initial stage, with limited investment in science and technology, and researchers were living and working under very difficult conditions. In accordance with the spirit of “strengthening the country through science and technology, extending assistance in times of need”, the Qiu Shi Science and Technologies Foundation awarded scientific awards to original technological achievements and provided assistance to Chinese researchers, earnestly hoping to contribute to the advancement of China’s science and technology.
Qiu Shi Awards have been bestowed outstanding Chinese scientists, representing the fields of mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, medicine and so on. Since 1994, including:
3 Qiu Shi Lifetime Achievement Awards
Professor Chenning YANG
Professor Guangzhao ZHOU
3 Lifetime Achievement Awards
33 Outstanding Scientist Awards
204 Outstanding Young Scholar Awards
133 Outstanding Scientific Research Team Awards including Ms Tu Youyou who won the award in 1996.
Chinese pharmacologist Tu Youyou received the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for her successful development of the novel anti-malaria drug artemisinin. This marked the first time that a Chinese scientist received a Nobel Prize for scientific research conducted in China. It is the highest accolade received in the medical field in China to date and represents the highest recognition for achievements in traditional Chinese medicine. Ms. Tu won the Qiu Shi Outstanding Scientific Research Team Award in 1996.
Ms Tu Youyou
Over the years, the Foundation had launched the Qiu Shi Graduate Student Scholarship and the Cha Chi Ming & Liu Bie Ju Undergraduate Student Scholarship in over 20 universities, to award outstanding Ph.D. students and provide financial assistance to exceptional undergraduate students in need. The Foundation has so far granted over 8,000 scholarships. The Foundation is also dedicated to promote exchange between Chinese scientists and the leading international research institutes, by sponsoring Chinese visiting scholars to the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, and funding educational programs such as the Chi-Chih Yao experimental class at Tsinghua University.
The Cha family continues its strong support of the Foundation. The Foundation’s current advisory board consists of a group of distinguished and internationally acclaimed scientists, namely, Professors David Ho, Yuetwai Kan, Jiadong Sun, Yigong Shi, Gang Tian, Xiaodong Wang, Xiaoliang Sunney Xie and Bangfen Zhu. Professor Chenning Yang, Guangzhao Zhou, Yongxiang Lu, Yuantseh Lee, Andrew Chi-Chih Yao, Qide Han, and the late Professor Shiing-Shen Chern, an acclaimed mathematician, were also our former advisors. The advisors are solely responsible for the selection and evaluation of candidates for the various Qiu Shi Awards.