2019 Award Ceremony of China Science Communication takes place in Beijing
Sponsored by the China Association for Science and Technology (CAST) and organized by Xinhuanet.com, the 2019 Award Ceremony of China Science Communication took place in Beijing on December 17, 2019.
The 2019 Award Ceremony of China Science Communication takes place in Beijing on December 17, 2019.
Huai Jinpeng, executive vice president of CAST, Meng Qinghai, vice president of CAST, and Yin Hao, curator of the China Science and Technology Museum, attended the ceremony, along with members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) Lin Qun, Liu Jiaqi, Wang Jingxiu and Zhou Zhonghe, member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering Wu Guanghui, and China Science Communication ambassador Xu Ying.
Huai Jinpeng said in his speech at the ceremony that science popularization has three dimensions, namely, popularizing scientific knowledge, spreading scientific methodology and promoting scientific spirit. Only when science popularization shows its value in spreading knowledge, improving life and generating economic benefits, can it give better play to its social and cultural values. And only when the scientific spirit becomes a mainstream value, can the wisdom and enthusiasm of the whole society for creation and innovation be fully mobilized.
Huai said that in 2019 CAST had continued to expand and improve its science popularization services. It had sponsored important events and built premier science popularization platforms. In the future, it will continue to unite science and technology workers and the whole society at large to popularize science and enhance the role of science popularization in driving innovation, building China into a science and technology giant and realizing the Chinese Dream of national renewal.
A series of awards were unveiled at the ceremony, including the top 10 science communication events, the top 10 science-related rumors busted, the top 10 We Media science popularization accounts, the top 10 online science popularization works, and the top 10 science popularization figures.
Among the top 10 science communication events were “the soft-landing of the Chang’e-4 probe on the far side of the moon” and “the first image of a black hole”. On the list of the top 10 science-related rumors busted were “Radiation of 5G base stations affects human health greatly” and “Radiation of Chinese high-speed trains is very high and taking high-speed trains is equivalent of being x-rayed”. The top 10 We Media science popularization accounts included the Bilibili account of the CAS Institute of Physic and the WeChat account of the Public Meteorological Service Center of the China Meteorological Administration. Among the top 10 online science popularization works were a video titled “Answer all your questions about garbage classification in three minutes” and an H5 work titled “Droughts and floods of China in 500 years”. Those winning the “top 10 science communication figures” award included CAS Institute of Computing Technology research fellow Wang Yuanzhuo and eco-activist Gunter Pauli.
Applications for the awards were either recommended by entities or submitted by individuals. As of November 24, a total of 519 applications had been entered into the three categories of science popularization figures, online science popularization works and We Media science popularization accounts. In the categories of top 10 science communication events and top 10 science-related rumors busted, a total of 109 events and 110 rumors were initially selected through big data analysis. Then CAST organized 45 experts in scientific research, science communication and science popularization media to carry out first-round selection. Results were then made public and shared online to collect Likes. Final results were decided by a jury of experts.
Besides announcing the awards, the ceremony also featured a variety of performances. Viya, ambassador for promoting rice produced in saline soil for the Barren Land Cultivators initiative, sang a song entitled “I have a Dream” together with students from the Zhicheng Primary School in Xicheng district of Beijing. The song, whose lyrics were written by academician Yuan Longping, gave the audience a sense of the academician’s patriotism in dedicating himself to developing high-yield rice. Other performances included a rap song about busting science-related rumors, a Peking Opera performance by children, and a drum performance. The performances were warmly applauded by the audience.
As an initiative of CAST, the award ceremony is an annual event for commending the best examples of science communication. It aims to innovate the concepts and modes of science popularization, pool the wisdom of the entire science communication community, promote the China Science Communication brand, and enhance the science literacy of the whole nation. Started in 2015, it has received wide attention and recognition from the society.