With a start-up fund of 1 billion Chinese Yuan, the Xplorer Prize officially announced its winners of 50 young scientists on Sept. 25, 2020. In the next five years, each winner will be granted 3 million Yuan by Tencent Foundation to support his/her exploration in fundamental science and cutting-edge core technologies. Prof. CHEN Qiuwen from Nanjing Hydraulic Research Institute (NHRI) was one of the 50 recipients this year.
Prof. CHEN Qiuwen, winner of National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, received his doctorate from Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands in 2004. He is now the director of NHRI Eco-Environmental Research Department. He has long been engaging in research of fundamental science and application of cutting-edge technologies in the eco-environmental protection of major river basins. He has discovered the new rules and internal mechanisms of the changes in runoff process affecting the circulation of key biogenic elements and the quality of fish habitats. He has put forward the strategy of the multi-dimensional regulation of runoff process and regional pollution load reduction, which has produced important academic impacts, and social, economic and ecological benefits.
He published over 300 journal papers in National Science Review, Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, Water Research, Environmental Science & Technology, Environmental Pollution, and other top-rank international journals, including over 160 SCI papers. He obtained 34 invention patents, 1 Second Class Prize of the National Scientific and Technological Progress Award, and 1 Special Class Prize and 5 First Class Prizes at provincial or ministerial level. In view of his "outstanding contribution in the field of Ecohydraulics and Hydroinformatics", the International Association for Hydro-Environment Engineering and Research (IAHR) granted him the 20th Arthur Thomas Ippen Award in 2017, which was the first time that a Chinese scholar won the award.
The Xplorer Prize is a public benefit award initiated by MA Huateng, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Tencent and founder of the Tencent Foundation, together with 13 well-known scientists, such as the famous physicist YANG Zhenning, on the occasion of Tencent’s 20th anniversary in 2018. The Xplorer Prize focuses on 9 fields, i.e. mathematics and physics, life sciences, astronomy and geoscience, chemistry and new materials, information and electronics technologies, energy and environmental protection, advanced manufacturing, transportation and construction, and advanced interdisciplinary studies. It supports young scientists aged 45 and under who are working full-time in mainland China, Hong Kong or Macao. It is a long-term non-profit and public benefit project for scientific and technologic exploration.
