2026 Future Science Prize Awarded to Three Scientists

Dragon Media News Desk

Three scientists have won the 2026 Future Science Prize for outstanding contributions to fundamental scientific research, organizers announced in Beijing on Thursday.

Zhang Hong, a researcher at the Institute of Biophysics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, received the Life Sciences Prize for his pioneering contributions to uncovering the mechanisms and functions of autophagy, or “self-eating,” that are unique to multicellular organisms.

Zhao Dongyuan, a professor at Fudan University, won the Physical Sciences Prize for his work on mesoporous materials, which are solid materials containing extremely small pores.

Such materials play important roles in catalysis, energy conversion and storage, and biomedicine. Zhao made pioneering contributions to developing methods for synthesizing mesoporous materials, understanding their mechanisms and advancing their industrial applications.

Professor Yuan Xinyi of Peking University received the Mathematics and Computer Science Prize for his fundamental contributions to arithmetic geometry.

Established in 2016 by a group of scientists and entrepreneurs, the Future Science Prize focuses on recognizing original and fundamental scientific research.

With the latest awards, a total of 49 scientists have been honored with the Future Science Prize since its establishment.