The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) announced in Beijing Wednesday that four Chinese scientists won awards at the 16th plenary session of TWAS, the Third World Academy of Sciences.

Li Jiayang, Zhu Rixiang, Yang Huanming and Wang Enge were granted Lecture Award, Geology Award, Biology Award and Physics Award, respectively.

Li Jiayang, vice president of the CAS, is a geneticist working on botanical molecular biology and has been involved in many of China's national scientific projects.

Zhu Rixiang, a research fellow with the geological research institute under the CAS, researches magnetic fields and the Earth's interior.

Yang Huanming, director of the Beijing Genomics Institute, is a member of the biological ethics committee of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Yang is also China coordinator for the international Human Genome Project.

Wang Enge, principal investigator of the CAS Institute of Physics, studies the surface dynamics of membrane evolution.

TWAS, was founded by Nobel physics laureate Abdus Salam of Pakistan in November 1983. It has 626 academicians from 77 countries and regions. A total of 89 Chinese scientists have been elected TWAS academicians.

(Xinhua News Agency December 16, 2005)