Future Science Prize

Categories of the Prize

The Future Science Prize annually grants three awards: "Life Science Prize", "Physical Science Prize" and "Mathematics and Computer Science Prize". The laureates are announced by the end of each year.

Targets

-  The Life Science Prize shall be awarded to the life-science related topics and applied research.

-  The Physical Science Prize shall be awarded to the physical-science related topics and applied research.

-  The Mathematics and Computer Science Prize shall be awarded to the mathematics and computer science related basis and applied research.

Criteria

The awards and their criteria are as follows:

-  significant international impacts

-  original and passed the trial of time

-  completed mainly in the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, Macao, or Taiwan. There is no restriction on the nationalities of the nominees.

Rewards

The Future Science Prize is a $1 million award, given to annual winners of Life Science Prize, Physical Science Prize, and the Mathematics and Computer Science Prize.

Laureates

The number of Laureates is determined by the most prominent person in the same group. Based on the principle, the number of winners per award shall not exceed five.

Nomination

Emergence

Candidates for each award will be selected by nominators, reviewed and approved by the Science Committee, Personal nomination and public recommendation will not be accepted.  Nominators recommended by a Science Committee member must be approved and acknowledged by the Science Committee unitedly before he or she is allowed to nominate.

Nomination

Each nominator may annually submit nominations valid for up to five years. When the secretariat invites nominators, it is necessary to remind the nominator whether he or she wishes to extend the nomination letter of the past year. If a nominator chooses not to do so, he or she needs to inform the Secretariat or submit a new nomination. The nomination shall be conducted independently，meaning that a nominee cannot be nominated jointly by more than one nominator.

Potential Candidate Changes

Science Committee members do not have the right to nominate for the award. However, if there are omissions or mistakes in any candidate’s work during the evaluation, the Science Committee can make changes to the list of candidates.

Evaluation

Selection process

After recommended by nominators, Future Science Prize candidates, no more than three groups for each award, are voted by the Awards Committee for approval; 

After the candidates have been identified, more than five international experts in that field appointed by the Science Committee will evaluate nominees’ works. The Science Committee members may consider the rotation and balance between the subjects of each award during the evaluation period. Based on the principle, winners from each award cannot be from the same subject of study for three consecutive years. 

Through anonymous voting, the final list of laureates is determined by the Science Committee members who receive consultation from international experts. If Science Committee believes that candidate this year does not meet the award criteria, with approval from over half of its members, the Science Committee can confirm this year’s laureates for that award vacancy.

Laureates

After anonymous voting, the chairman of the Science Committee will notify the laureates by phone and inform them their rights and obligations. They can choose to accept or reject the award. If the winner rejects, the Science Committee will re-vote on the other candidates and determine a new laureate.

In order to promote the spirit of science and expand its influence among young people, the laureate shave the obligation to become Scientific Communication Charity Ambassadors and attend Secretariat-hosted academic reports, the award ceremony for the Future Science Prize, and at least two public speeches.

The Laureatesshould adhere to academic ethics, uphold the spirit of science, abide to the integrity of scientific research, and avoid any actions contrary to the mission and principles of the Future Science Prize.

Proactive disclosure and principle of avoidance

The Science Committee members should obey their promise — "credibility above all else" – stated in the Future Science Prize Science Committee Commitment. During the evaluation process, when the Science Committee members first seethe nominee list, they should disclose whether or not it has any conflicts of interest, including the relationship between teachers and students, the relationship between relatives and friends and the project cooperation (the project ending period shall not exceed five years), business partnerships, competition and other relationships that may affect the fairness of the evaluation process. The specific procedures for disclosure are formulated by the Executive Committee and monitored by the Supervision Committee.

Science Committee members must waive their qualification to become award candidates during their tenure and within two years after they resign. For members with conflicts of interest, the Supervisory Committee shall determine whether the conflict of interest affects the fairness of the selection process and whether those members should evade whenever matters regarding their conflicting candidates are discussed and forfeit their votes.

Confidentiality

All staffs involved in the evaluation of the Future Science Prize(including Science Committee members and Supervisory Committee members) have duty to keep all evaluation work confidential. Confidentiality agreements should be signed with a confidentiality period of fifty years.

Distribution of the Awards 

Award ceremony

The Executive Committee is responsible for organizing the award ceremony of the Future Science Prize and revealing to the public the reasons for providing awards and the academic contributions of each of the Laureates.