3 scientists win 2026 Future Science Prize

BEIJING -- Three scientists won the 2026 Future Science Prize for their outstanding research, prize organizers in Beijing announced Thursday.

Zhang Hong, a researcher at the Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, received the prize in life sciences for his pioneering contributions to discovering the mechanism and function unique to autophagy, or "self-eating," in multicellular organisms.

Zhao Dongyuan, a professor of Fudan University, won the physical sciences award for his work on mesoporous materials, which are solids containing tiny pores. They are indispensable for catalysis, energy conversion and storage, and biomedicine. Zhao pioneered ways to synthesize them, understand their mechanisms, and apply them in industry.

Professor Yuan Xinyi at Peking University took the mathematics and computer science prize for his fundamental contributions to arithmetic geometry.

Established in 2016 and jointly initiated by a group of scientists and entrepreneurs, the Future Science Prize focuses on original fundamental scientific research. There have been 49 winners recognized so far.