The awarding ceremony of the UNESCO-ABDULLAH AL FOZAN International Prize for the Promotion of Young Scientists in STEM was held at the headquarter of UNESCO in Paris, France on local time June 19, 2023.

As one of the leading figures in the field of international Archaeogenetics, Chinese scientist Fu Qiaomei, together with 4 other scientists from Argentina, Cameroon, Egypt and Serbia, stood out from 2,500 candidates and won the prize. Fu was the first Chinese scientist winning the prize.

Fu Qiaomei, born in 1983, is currently a senior research fellow at the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP), an institute under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and a member of the Standing Committee of the China Association for Science and Technology (CAST).

Fu is a recipient of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, chief scientist of the National Key R&D Program of China, fellow and young affiliate of The World Academy of Sciences for the Advancement of Science in Developing Countries (TWAS), and young scientist at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI).

Over the past decade, Fu and her team have developed key technologies and retrieved DNA from ancient human remains and sediments to construct an evolutionary map of Eurasian (especially East Asian) populations over the past 100,000 years. Fu’s findings revealed unique human diversity and shaped the genetic makeup and adaptive traits of humans today.

One of Fu’s findings indicates that populations related to the Tianyuan Cave individual were widely distributed in East Asia before the Last Glacial Maximum (26,500–19,000 years ago) and may have disappeared at the end of this period. By that time, the earliest ancient northern East Asian populations had emerged and mutations in a gene that is responsible for the development of skin tissue had also appeared; these mutations are associated with typical features unique to East Asia such as thicker hair and more sweat glands, reflecting the influence of genetic selection in low ultraviolet environments. From 14,000 years ago, the populations in northern East Asia remained relatively continuous and became the most direct and well-supported source of East Asian ancestry in Native Americans.

The UNESCO-ABDULLAH AL FOZAN International Prize for the Promotion of Young Scientists in STEM consists of an award of US $ 50,000 for each of the 5 laureates as well as a medal and a diploma.

The prize is awarded every two years to 5 laureates from the 5 geographic regions of UNESCO (Africa, Arab States, Asia and the Pacific, Europe and North America and Latin America and the Caribbean), its purpose to encourage youth participation in STEM, in particular women and girls, so as to promote gender equality, scientific literacy and the choice of a scientific career.

The prize is expected to foster collaboration, advancement and popularization of science and international cooperation to advance scientific expertise globally and meet the needs of young scientists in countries that are lagging behind in science and technology.

(Part of the article has adopted the materials published on UNESCO website.)

Tag: China Centre for International Science and Technology Exchange, Science Award