On July 9th, the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) holds a ceremony in Beijing to confer the 2026 Tan Kah Kee Science Awards and the 2026 Tan Kah Kee Young Scientist Awards on the winners.
Every other year, the Awards honor scientific excellence in six fields: mathematics and physics, chemistry, life sciences, earth sciences, information technical sciences and technological sciences. Awardees are selected in strict accordance with the Regulations on the Tan Kah Kee Science Awards, the Regulations on the Tan Kah Kee Young Scientist Awards, and the Detailed Rules for the Implementation. Nominees are first shortlisted following rounds of peer review and panel evaluation by the Tan Kah Kee Award Committees of respective disciplines, and have to pass the final evaluation by the Tan Kah Kee Science Award General Jury to win the awards.
Resulting from the strict selection procedure, six projects won the 2026 Tan Kah Kee Science Awards, and 12 scientists were honored with the Tan Kah Kee Young Scientist Awards. (A detailed list of all the awardees is attached at the end of the report.)
Named after Mr. Tan Kah Kee (CHEN Jiageng), a renowned overseas Chinese entrepreneur who made remarkable contributions to China’s science and education. The Tan Kah Kee Science Awards and the Tan Kah Kee Young Scientist Awards aim to recognize individuals living in China who have made outstanding S&T achievements in recent years.
The Award’s predecessor was the Tan Kah Kee Award established in 1988. In 2003, with the approval of the State Council of China, the CAS and the Bank of China jointly established the Tan Kah Kee Science Award Foundation to fund the Awards. Later in 2010, the Tan Kah Kee Young Scientist Award was inaugurated to honor outstanding young scientists of China.
