A grand award giving ceremony was held on Oct. 30 in Beijing to honor the scientists who have been granted science and technology awards by the Ho Leung Ho Lee (HLHL) Foundation. Prof. PAN Jianwei of USTC was awarded the highest award—the Science and Technology Achievement Award.

CAS Academicain PAN Jianwei(Left) is awared by CHEN Changzhi, NPC Vice Chairman./ From China News Agency. 

Another 45 scientists, including ZHOU Jianping, chief designer of China's manned space program, and WU Weiren, Chief designer of China's lunar exploration program were granted the science and technology awards. CHANG Changzhi, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC), and WAN Gang, vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) attended the award ceremony. 

PAN has been studying in the field of Quantum mechanics foundation, quantum communication and quantum computation for a long time. As one of the pioneer researchers in the field of quantum communication and quantum computation, his research achievements have received high evaluation both at home and abroad. He has been awarded many international awards like the Erich Schmid Award, the Sofja Kovalevskaja Award and the 2007 Beller's lectureship APS, to list just a few. 

Currently, PAN and his research group are working on several national major programs with the purpose to realize wide-area ground quantum communication networks with the largest spatial span and scope in the world and to realize international quantum communication based on satellite-to-ground quantum communication.　

The Ho Leung Ho Lee Foundation (HLHL) is a Chinese non-government organization founded in Hong Kong in 1994. The foundation is the most influential non-governmental prize in science and technology in China. It annually bestows prizes upon Chinese scientists in three categories, the Science and Technology Achievement Award, the Science and Technology Progress Award, and the Science and Technology Innovation Award.

(TIAN Lin, USTC News Center)