Best performing scientists for the year 2016 were awarded, yesterday, at the ongoing 27th The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) general meeting in Kigali.

Each year, TWAS awards prizes worth $15,000 (about Rwf12 million) each to scientists who have been working and living in a developing country for at least 10 years.

The TWAS prizes are awarded to individual scientists from developing countries in recognition of outstanding contributions to scientific knowledge in nine fields of sciences and to the application of science and technology to sustainable development.

They range from agricultural sciences, biology, chemistry, earth sciences, engineering sciences, mathematics, medical sciences, physics and social sciences to TWAS-Lenovo Prize, one of the most prestigious honours for science in the developing world.

This year’s TWAS-Lenovo Prize was won by Zhao Dongyuan, a Chinese scientist who developed innovative nano-sized materials that could be used to clean water, deliver medicine and improve batteries.

The Chinese material scientist was named winner of the 2016 TWAS-Lenovo Science Prize for his work discovering new materials that are now widely used.Zhao is a 2010 TWAS Fellow and a chemistry professor at Fudan University in Shanghai, China.

His work focuses on mesoporous materials – structures that feature tiny, microscopic holes.

Across two decades, his research and nano-scale applications have been used to clean water for drinking and agriculture, improve the capacity and efficiency of batteries, and deliver drugs with pinpoint precision in human bodies.

The annual prize includes an award of $100,000 (about Rwf80 million) provided by the Chinese technology company Lenovo, the global leader in consumer, commercial, and enterprise technology that is the largest PC company in the world.

The TWAS-Lenovo Prize has focused on recognising outstanding work in basic sciences.

The subject area changes each year: physics and astronomy in 2013; biological sciences in 2014; mathematics in 2015; and chemical sciences in 2016.

The prize will continue for four more years, honouring work in geology in 2017, engineering in 2018, agricultural science in 2019, and social science in 2020, according to organisers.

Among the 10 winners include Benin mathematician MN Hounkonnou, who was awarded the CNR Rao prize for outstanding level of mathematical research and commitment to mathematics education and training.

The prize was established in 2006 by TWAS founding fellow and former president CNR Rao, an eminent Indian chemist who served as chair of the science advisory council to the Prime Minister of India (2004-2014).

The prize acknowledges distinguished scientists from the world’s scientifically lagging and least developed countries who have made significant contributions to global science.

The prize carries a cash award of $5,000 generously provided by Rao.

Nepali biomaterial scientist Bijay Singh walked away with the Atta-ur-Rahman Prize for development of new biomaterials and carrier substances that allow precise drug, gene and vaccine delivery on cellular targets.

Bijay is a chemist and a principal investigator at the Research Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology at the Indian state of Kathmandu.

He won the prize for his outstanding results in the field of biomaterials, a new type of carrier molecules that may encapsulate several compounds and direct the delivery of drugs, genes and vaccines with pinpoint accuracy.

The Atta-ur-Rahman Prize was established in 2012 by TWAS Fellow Atta-ur-Rahman of Pakistan, a leading scientist and scholar in the field of organic chemistry, renowned for his research in areas related to natural product chemistry.

The award brings a prize of $5,000 now sponsored by the Dawood Foundation, and is annually given to a talented chemist, under the age of 40, who lives and works in any of the 81 scientifically lagging countries.

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