Tencent-backed "New Cornerstone Investigator Program" has announced its third cohort of 35 distinguished scientists receiving funding. The initiative operates under a "three no's" principle—no assessments, no paper quotas, and no rigid timelines—to fully support groundbreaking "0-to-1" research.
Experimental researchers will receive annual grants of 5 million yuan ($700K) for five years (totaling 25 million yuan), while theoretical researchers get 3 million yuan annually (15 million yuan over five years). The average age of this year's recipients is 45, the youngest in the program's history, with nine under 40 (men) or 43 (women). The youngest awardee is 35.
Recipients span mathematics/physical sciences (19 researchers, including 8 physicists, 8 chemists, and 3 mathematicians/theoretical computer scientists) and biological/medical sciences (16 researchers, including 10 biologists and 6 medical scientists).
Since its 2022 launch, the program has funded 139 scientists. Unlike conventional grants, it prioritizes individuals over projects, empowering researchers to pursue high-risk, high-reward exploration. Tencent has pledged 10 billion yuan ($1.4B) over a decade to advance transformative breakthroughs in China's fundamental research.
The full list of the third "New Cornerstone Investigators" is available for review.
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