Professor Zong Qiugang awarded Hannes Alfvén Medal
Oct 29, 2019
Peking University, Oct 26, 2019: On October 22, the European Geosciences Union (EGU) announced the 2020 EGU awardees. Professor Zong Qiugang from the School of Earth and Space Sciences received the Hannes Alfvén Medal.
Named after Hannes Alfvén, an eminent space physicist and a Nobel Prize winner, the medal was awarded to scientists for their outstanding contributions to the understanding of plasma processes in the solar system and other cosmical plasma environments. Since its establishment in 1997, 23 scientists have been awarded and Zong Qiugang is the first Chinese one.
In the past decade, Zong Qiugang and his team have conducted in-depth research into the ultra-low frequency waves (ULF waves) and their interaction with energetic particles in the magnetosphere. Based on the data collected by Cluster of European Space Agency (ESA), Van Allen Probes of NASA, and the independently developed Beida-IES instrument on Chinese Beidou Satellite, they have made breakthroughs in the excitation mechanism, time evolution, spatial distribution of ULF and its interactions with electrons and ions via resonance.
His team also made great progress in the acceleration of “killer electrons” and the excitation of ULF waves by solar wind dynamic pressure, contributing a lot to magnetospheric particle dynamics. Zong Qiugang’s research about the acceleration of “killer electrons” in the magnetosphere was recognized as one of the five milestones in the 10 years of Cluster in orbit by the ESA. Five papers published by his team have been featured on the cover of several internationally leading journals in space science such as GRL, JGR, Space Weather, and some Chinese journals like Chinese Science Bulletin and Science China.
EGU awards annually eminent scientists for their outstanding contributions in geoscience, planetary science, and space science, accrediting them as role models for youth scientists to undertake geoscience research. Winners of EGU medals can be nominated as EGU ambassadors who can attend meetings hosted by other organizations and give special presentations and lectures in the name of EGU. The 2020 winners will receive their prizes at the EGU 2020 General Assembly, which will be held in Vienna on 3-8 May, 2020.
The Introduction of Zong Qiugang
Zong Qiugang, professor of Peking University, won the second place in the 2001 Chinese National Award for the Promotion of Science and the 2005 National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars (B Class). He was hired as a professor at the School of Earth and Space Sciences and was supported by the State Key Program of National Natural Science Foundation of China in 2008 and the funds for Creative Research Groups of China in 2014, as the group leader. In 2015, he was awarded as one of the top ten teachers of Peking University.
Academic Achievements
Professor Zong Qiugang has published 250 SCI papers in the most important journals in space physics at home and abroad, such as JGR, GRL, Nature Communication, Nature Physics and PRL. These papers have been cited over 3000 times by SCI so far. His research has been recognized as the Science Highlight by science department of ESA three times, stating that “opening up a new way to understand the acceleration mechanism of high-energy particles in the Earth's radiation belt”. Astronomy& Geophysics, a journal of the Royal Astronomical Society, has published a review about scientific results from Cluster in 2010, which listed 4 prominent results, including magnetic reconnection in the magnetotail, anisotropic plasma turbulence in the solar wind, multi-scale shock observations and Zong Qiugang’s interplanetary shocks and killer electrons.
The famous Discover magazine (January 2008 issue) has a selection of 100 top science stories of 2007, and his study "How Killer Electrons Form in Space" has been listed as 37. In 2009, ESA announced the list of ten scientists who have made outstanding contributions to the implementation of the Double Star-Cluster program. Professor Zong Qiugang ranks first among more than 1,000 scientists worldwide and is the only Chinese scientist among the top ten (top10). In 2010, Zong was rewarded by ESA Outstanding Scientist Award. In 2018, he won the 2018 Vikram Sarabhai Gold Medal jointly awarded by the International Space Research Council (COSPAR) and the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO).
For More Information: The Announcement Website
Written by: Jian Jingwen
Edited by: Wei Yunqi
Source: PKU News (Chinese)
