HKIAS Fellows Professor Enge Wang and Professor Yuntian Zhu Honoured with 2025 State Natural Science Awards

08 Jul 2026

The Hong Kong Institute for Advanced Study (HKIAS) at City University of Hong Kong (CityUHK) is very pleased to announce that its distinguished fellows have achieved outstanding success at the 2025 State Natural Science Awards, one of the nation's highest honours in fundamental scientific research. The awards were presented at the National Science and Technology Awards Conference, held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on 8 July, 2026.

HKIAS Senior Fellow Professor Enge Wang has been honoured with the prestigious First Prize of the 2025 State Natural Science Award. Professor Wang, who is a renowned physicist, an Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and former President of Peking University, received the accolade for his landmark 25-year project, "Research on the Full Quantum Effects of Hydrogen Bond Strength and Dynamics of Water." His team's pioneering work established a "full quantum physical framework" that successfully resolved long-standing scientific puzzles regarding water's molecular behaviour, fundamentally rewriting aspects of condensed matter physics.

This photograph was taken during a distinguished lecture delivered by HKIAS Senior Fellow Professor Enge Wang at CityUHK on June 6, 2024, titled "Full Quantum Effects in Condensed Matter Physics." His continuous engagement has profoundly enriched the research environment at CityUHK, fostering vital knowledge exchange and inspiring next-generation collaborations across the field of Physics.

 

Professor Enge Wang and his research team (Photo courtesy of Peking University News)

Adding to the institute's accolades, HKIAS Visiting Fellow Professor Yuntian Zhu also received national recognition, winning the Second Prize of the 2025 State Natural Science Award. Professor Zhu served as an HKIAS Visiting Fellow from August to December 2019 before joining CityUHK as Chair Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering. He was honoured for his prominent role in the collaborative project "Research on the Strengthening and Toughening of Heterostructured Metallic Materials." Internationally recognised for pioneering the concept of heterostructured materials — metals designed with contrasting regions of soft and hard mechanical properties — Professor Zhu's breakthrough enables materials to achieve a level of strength and toughness far superior to conventional metals, with significant potential for future aerospace, automotive, and medical technologies.


HKIAS Visiting Fellow Professor Yuntian Zhu

The State Natural Science Award is widely regarded as China's most prestigious national honour for fundamental research. This exceptional double victory highlights the institute's prominent standing at the forefront of international physics and materials science.

 

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