China's Sky Eye Chief Scientist Wins Marcel Grossmann Award
Li Di, chief scientist of "China's Sky Eye (FAST)", was awarded the Marcel Grossmann Award, becoming the first Chinese scientist to win the Marcel Grossmann Award for domestic academic achievements.
According to People's Daily Online, the 17th Marcel Grossmann Conference was held in Pescara, eastern Italy, from July 7 to 12. The conference awarded the Marcel Grossmann Award to Li Di on July 9, local time, in recognition of his pioneering contribution to the most sensitive radio telescope project, achieving precise measurement of interstellar magnetic fields, and promoting the study of fast radio bursts into the era of high statistics.
Remo Ruffini, one of the organizers of the conference and director of the International Center for Relativistic Astrophysics Network, said that Li Di and the "China Sky Eye" (500-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope, FAST) have made significant contributions to astronomical research and will inspire more latecomers to participate in research.
Li Di said that mankind has the same sky, and the international openness of astronomy is inevitable. Strengthening China-EU cooperation, especially the open sharing of astronomical data between the two sides, can greatly promote frontier exploration.
Swiss mathematician Marcel Grossmann provided important mathematical assistance in Einstein's establishment of the general theory of relativity. The Marcel Grossmann Award named after him is one of the important awards in the international physics community.
The award was established by the International Center for Relative Astrophysics in 1985 and is awarded every three years during the Marcel Grossmann Conference. The award has both individual and institutional awards, and previous Chinese scientists who have won individual awards include Chen-Ning Yang, Tsung-Dao Lee, and Shing-Tung Yau.