On February 12, the Tan Kah Kee Science Awards Foundation announced the recipients of the 2026 Tan Kah Kee Science Awards and the 2026 Tan Kah Kee Young Scientist Award. Academician Tao Zhang of our institute was awarded the 2026 Tan Kah Kee Science Awards in Chemical Sciences for his project entitled “Single-Atom Catalysis.” This project achieved regulation of catalytic active sites and catalytic performance at the atomic scale, opening up a new direction in single-atom catalysis.
Professor Zhang has long been engaged in research on energy chemical engineering and novel catalytic materials. His team was the first in the world to propose the new concept of “Single-Atom Catalysis” and to discover a one-step catalytic conversion of cellulose to ethylene glycol. He has received numerous honors and awards, including the Second Prize of the National Technological Invention Award, the Zhou Guangzhao Applied Science Award, the Outstanding Achievement Award of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Ho Leung Ho Lee Prize for Scientific and Technological Progress (Chemistry), the ChinaNANO Award, the Asia-Pacific Catalysis Achievement Award, the Chinese Chemical Society–Sinopec Chemical Contribution Award, the inaugural Tang Aoqing Chemistry Award, the 2024 Future Science Prize, the 2025 Citation Laureate Award, and the China Catalysis Achievement Award. He serves on the editorial or advisory boards of several international journals, including Applied Catalysis B, Green Chemistry, ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, ChemPhysChem, and Green Energy & Environment; he is Co-Chair of the Editorial Board of Chemistry – A European Journal, Associate Editor of Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS), and Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Chinese Journal of Catalysis.
The Tan Kah Kee Science Awards originated from theTan Kah Kee Science Awards, established in 1988 and named after Mr. Chen Jiageng, a patriotic overseas Chinese leader who made significant contributions to the development of science and education in China. In February 2003, with the approval of the State Council and the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the Chen Jiageng Science Award Foundation was formally registered. Upon its establishment, the Foundation set up the Chen Jiageng Science Award to recognize major original scientific and technological achievements made in China in recent years. The award categories include Mathematical and Physical Sciences, Chemical Sciences, Life Sciences, Earth Sciences, Information Technology Sciences, and Technological Sciences. The Chen Jiageng Science Award is conferred biennially; no more than one project is selected in each category per award cycle. The number of awardees is generally limited to one and no more than three. If no project meets the required standards, the award may be withheld.
In 2010, the Foundation established the Tan Kah Kee Young Scientist Award to recognize young scientists (under the age of 40) who have independently achieved important original scientific and technological accomplishments in China. Academicians Cunhao Zhang, Xueming Yang, and Xinhe Bao from our institute previously received the Tan Kah Kee Science Award in Chemical Sciences in 1999, 2010, and 2018, respectively.
