Chief Executive of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Carrie Lam (2nd R) poses for a group photo with three laureates of the Shaw Prize in Hong Kong, south China, Sept. 25, 2019. (Xinhua/Weng Xinyang)
HONG KONG, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- An award presentation ceremony of the annual Shaw Prize was held Wednesday in China's Hong Kong, with three scientists commended for their prominent work in astronomy, life science and medicine, and mathematical sciences.
Chief Executive of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Carrie Lam presented the awards to the three laureates at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center. Each prize bears a monetary award of 1.2 million U.S. dollars.
The Shaw Prize in Astronomy was awarded to Edward C Stone of California Institute of Technology for his leadership in the Voyager project, which has, over the past four decades, transformed the understanding of the four giant planets and the outer solar system, and has now begun to explore interstellar space.
The Shaw Prize in Life Science and Medicine was awarded to Maria Jasin of Cornell University for her work showing that localized double strand breaks in DNA stimulate recombination in mammalian cells. This seminal work was essential for and led directly to the tools enabling editing at specific sites in mammalian genomes.
The Shaw Prize in Mathematical Sciences was awarded to Michel Talagrand, former senior researcher of French National Center for Scientific Research, for his work on concentration inequalities, on suprema of stochastic processes and on rigorous results for spin glasses.
Established under the auspices of Run Run Shaw in November 2002, the Shaw Prize consists of three annual prizes of astronomy, life science and medicine, and mathematical sciences.
The prize honors individuals, regardless of race, nationality, gender and religious belief, who have achieved significant breakthrough in academic and scientific research or applications and whose works have resulted in a positive and profound impact on mankind.
