A Hong Kong-born medical scientist and a mainland mathematician have become the first two Chinese to win the newly-established science award, the Shaw Prize.

The prize was established by Hong Kong television and movie mogul Run Run Shaw in November 2002.

The annual prize consists of three categories: astronomy, life and science and medicine, and mathematical sciences. Each prize comes with a monetary award of US$1 million.

More than 200 scientists were nominated this year, the first time the prize was awarded.

Three prize committees and an adjudication board headed by Professor Yang Chen-ning, the 1957 Nobel Laureate for physics, made the selection.

Two prizes were awarded in the category of life science and medicine this year.

Professor of University of California Kan Yuet-wai jointly won the prize for his discoveries on DNA polymorphism and its influence on human genetics. Kan was born and grew up in Hong Kong. He obtained his degree in medicine and doctorate in science studies from the University of Hong Kong.

The other joint winners were American scientists Stanley Cohen of Stanford University and Professor Herbert Boyer of University of California, for their great contributions to DNA cloning and genetic engineering.

The second prize in the field will be given to a British scientist, Richard Doll, to honour his achievement in modern cancer epidemiology.

Announcing the results at a press conference yesterday, Yang said the competition in the field of life science and medicine was particularly fierce.

As a wide range of academic areas are covered in the life science and medicine field, we have received a large number of nominations.

In the beginning, members from the prize selection committee and adjudicators had fierce debates on who should win the prize. We eventually concluded that all these winners deserved the award and so two prizes were given in the same field, he said.

But it doesnt mean that we will continue awarding two prizes in the field in future, Yang added.

Chern Shiing-shen of Nankai University won the prize in the field of mathematical sciences.

He was honoured for his initiation of the field of global differential geometry and his contribution to the development of mathematics in the last 60 years.

Canadian physicist and Princeton University professor, P. James E. Peebles, won the award in the field of astronomy for his achievement in cosmology and astrophysics.

Yang noted the adjudicators board studied the Nobel Prize as a model to develop rules and procedures in selecting prizewinners.

The main principle is fairness. We must ensure that all nominees have an equal opportunity to compete for the award based on academic achievement, he said.

I believe that the Shaw Prize will have a big influence in the international academic sector and I am confident that the Shaw Prize can be comparable to the Nobel Prize in future.

Most nominees this year were from Chinas mainland, US, Japan and Britain. Less than 10 per cent of nominees were from Hong Kong.

The Shaw Prize presentation ceremony will take place in Hong Kong in September.

The winners are obligated to hold forums in at least one university in China and share their knowledge.

The Shaw Prize aims to honour scientists regardless of race, nationality and religious belief who have made significant breakthroughs and whose work has resulted in a profound impact for mankind.

The 96-year-old founder has been the chairman of Television Broadcast Ltd for more than 30 years.

With the prize money rivalling that of the Nobel Prize, the Shaw Prize is hailed as the Nobel Prize of the East.

Established in 1901, the Nobel Prize is awarded to people who have made great achievements in physics, chemistry, medicine, literature and peace. In 1968, a prize for economic science was included.

(HK Edition 05/28/2004 page2)