On January 10, the State Science and Technology Awards Conference of 2019 was held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. President Xi Jinping and other CPC leaders and state officials attended the conference and conferred awards to representatives of the winners. Higher education institutions (HEIs) swept up the majority of prizes in this year’s State Science and Technology Awards.

A total of 239 projects were awarded prizes. 144 HEIs were classed as major contributors in 198 winning projects, representing 82.8% of all projects, while 91 HEIs were first contributors in 159 winning projects, representing 66.5% of all projects.

HEIs were also the employers of first contributors in many projects, which garnered 1 First Class Prize and 31 Second Class Prizes in the State Natural Science Awards, constituting 69.6% of all prizes in this category; and 1 First Class Prize and 38 Second Class Prizes in the State Technological Invention Awards, constituting 83% of all prizes in this category.

HEIs as major contributors to winning projects received 127 prizes in the category of State Science and Technology Progress Award, including 2 Special Class Prizes, 9 First Class Prizes, 115 Second Class Prizes and 1 Innovative Team Prize and constituting 87% of all prizes in this category. Meanwhile, HEIs as the first contributors to winning projects were granted 88 prizes in the same category, including 1 Special Class Prizes, 7 First Class Prizes, 79 Second Class Prizes and 1 Innovative Team Prize and constituting 60.3% of all prizes in this category.

The quality of award-winning HEI projects was also striking: The First Class Prize in the 2019 State Natural Science Awards was awarded only to a project from Nankai University; likewise, the 2019 State Technological Invention Award was conferred only to a project from Beihang University. Two Special Class Prizes in State Science and Technology Progress Award category were awarded, one to Shanghai Jiao Tong University; the Innovative Team Prize award went only to Dalian Polytechnic University. At the same time, 7 of the total 12 First Class Prizes went to Dongbei University, Wuhan University, Southwest Jiao Tong University, National University of Defense Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, South China University of Technology and Chongqing University.

HEIs have swept the board in the State Science and Technology Awards for a number of years, indicating their importance in basic research and major original innovations as well as their prominent contribution to scientific and technological progress and economic and social advancement in China.