Brilliant lights and gathered stars illuminated the evening of November 27, as the “Ladder to Creation · The Power of Science” 2025 Ruiyuan Science and Technology Awards Ceremony and SJTU Science Night was held at the Student Center on the Minhang Campus. The third Ruiyuan Science and Technology Awards and the second Ruiyuan Young Scientist Awards were presented, honoring five distinguished scientists and eight young scientists.
Academician Jia Jinfeng of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Chair Professor at the Tsung-Dao Lee Institute, and Academician Ding Hong, Deputy Director and Chair Professor at the Tsung-Dao Lee Institute, jointly received the Third Ruiyuan Science and Technology Award in Mathematics and Physical Sciences.
Xu Donglian, tenure-track scientist at the Tsung-Dao Lee Institute, received the Second Ruiyuan Young Scientist Award in Mathematics and Physical Sciences.
Academician Zhang Jie, Director of the Tsung-Dao Lee Institute and member of the award selection committee, presided over the presentations for both the Mathematics and Physical Sciences Award and the Information and Space Technology Award.
Zhang Jie presides over the Mathematics and Physical Sciences and Information and Space Technology Award ceremonies
Award presentation site of the Ruiyuan Science and Technology Award — Mathematics and Physical Sciences
Award presentation site of the Ruiyuan Young Scientist Award
Awardees
Third Ruiyuan Science and Technology Award — Mathematics and Physical Sciences (Co-Recipients)
Jia Jinfeng
Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences; Chair Professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University; Director of the Condensed Matter Physics Division at the Tsung-Dao Lee Institute.
Professor Jia has made systematic and innovative contributions to the design, growth, characterization, and property modulation of quantum materials. He has published more than 340 high-impact papers, including 6 in Science, 3 in Nature, 4 in Nature Physics, 3 in Nature Materials, 6 in Advanced Materials, and 30 in Physical Review Letters. His papers have been cited over 21,000 times. From 2018 to 2021, he was named a Highly Cited Researcher worldwide for four consecutive years.
His honors include three National Natural Science Second Prizes (as first awardee in 2011 and 2019), the 1996 National Education Commission First Prize in Science and Technology Progress, the 2016 Ministry of Education First Prize in Natural Science and its 2017 Special Prize, the 2011 Qiu Shi Outstanding Scientific Achievements Collective Award, the 2013 Asia Achievement Award by the Asia Pacific Federation of Physical Societies, and the 2023 National Innovation Award.
Ding Hong
Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences; Chair Professor and Deputy Director of the Tsung-Dao Lee Institute; Head of the Condensed Matter Physics Division.
Professor Ding has long been engaged in experimental condensed matter physics and has achieved several pioneering breakthroughs of major international significance: discovery of the pseudogap in cuprate high-temperature superconductors (1996), discovery of the s-wave superconducting order parameter in iron-based superconductors (2008), discovery of Weyl fermions in solid-state materials (2015), and observation of Majorana zero modes in iron-based superconductors (2018).
His work was selected among China’s Top Ten Scientific Advances/Top Ten Science News in 2015, 2017, and 2018. He has published more than 300 papers with over 20,000 citations.
His honors include the 1999 Sloan Research Fellowship, 2011 Fellowship of the American Physical Society, the 2018 European Advanced Materials Award, the 2020 CAS Outstanding Science and Technology Achievement Award, the 2022 Tencent XIN Grant, election as a CAS Academician in 2023, the 2024 TWAS Physics, Astronomy and Space Sciences Award, and the 2025 Future Science Prize in Physical Sciences.
Second Ruiyuan Young Scientist Award — Mathematics and Physical Sciences
Xu Donglian
Tenure-track scientist at the Tsung-Dao Lee Institute; national distinguished young expert; initiator and chief scientist of the South China Sea Neutrino Telescope Project (Hailin Program).
Professor Xu holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Science and Technology of China and a Ph.D. from the University of Alabama. He established and led an interdisciplinary team to develop deep-sea optical detectors, successfully deploying a 3.5 km deep-sea instrument in the Xisha region in 2021. The team conducted in situ measurements of seawater optical properties and current fields, identified an optimal site, and completed an innovative telescope design—opening new opportunities for exploring the extreme universe.
Since 2009, he has conducted research at the IceCube Neutrino Observatory in Antarctica, contributing significantly to the discovery of high-energy cosmic neutrinos and the first identification of a corresponding source. He received the 2012 United States Antarctica Service Medal and was named the 2017 IceCube Young Scientist Representative.
He has published over 20 papers in journals including Science, Nature Astronomy, and The Astrophysical Journal, with more than 3,000 citations, and has delivered invited review talks at TAU, NeuTel, PANIC, and other major conferences.
At the event’s conclusion, the much-anticipated Ruiyuan Science and Technology Award theme song “Ladder to Creation” was officially released. Its graceful melody and inspiring lyrics expressed researchers’ persistence in “seeking truth and overcoming challenges,” conveying the spirit of “scaling new heights and pioneering innovation.”
A particularly moving moment came when Academician Ding Hong, recipient of the Mathematics and Physical Sciences Award, performed the song himself, lending the voice of a scientist to this anthem of dedication and courage.
To encourage bold exploration and innovative scientific spirit, and to recognize SJTU alumni worldwide who have made outstanding contributions to basic research, applied research, and frontier science, alumnus Chen Guangming (Class of 1996 undergraduate, Class of 1999 master’s), also a university board member, collaborated with his alma mater to establish the Shanghai Jiao Tong University Ruiyuan Science and Technology Awards in 2022.
This year’s awardees exemplify the SJTU spirit of innovation, excellence, and unwavering pursuit of progress.
Author: Tsung-Dao Lee Institute
Contributor: Tsung-Dao Lee Institute
Editor: Meng Wenzhu
Translated by Siyuan Sun
Proofread by Elizabeth Pan
