Shaw Prize introduces computer science category
發佈日期: 2026-02-28 20:45
TVB News
Established 24 years ago, the Shaw Prize recently introduced the computer science category with a monetary award of up to 1.2 million U.S. dollars.
The Shaw Prize Council believes the inclusion of the new award category could help increase Hong Kong's participation in international scientific research fields.
Founded in 2002 by late media mogul and co-founder of TVB Sir Run Run Shaw, the Shaw Prize originally consisted of just three categories -- astronomy, life science and medicine, as well as mathematical sciences.
Starting in 2004, the annual awards had been presented to more than 110 individuals, many of whom subsequently received other international awards, with 16 of them being Nobel Prize recipients.
This as the Shaw Prize Foundation said it has noticed the rapid impact of computer science in people's daily lives over the past few years, and decided to introduce this field.
Prof. Kenneth Young, chairman, Shaw Prize Council said: "I think it's quite natural for a successful organisation to think if it's possible to have some expansion, some new initiatives.
People would start thinking about the possibility of a fourth prize. I think computer science emerged quite naturally."
Preparations for the new award began some two years ago, with former HKUST President Professor Tony Chan serving as chair of the planning committee for the prize, while Professor Jennifer Chayes, Dean of the College of Computing, Data Science, and Society at the University of California, Berkeley, became the inaugural chair of the selection committee.
Selection criteria for the computer science category remains the same as the other three categories.
Winners will too be granted a 1.2 million U.S. dollar monetary award, or around 9.38 million Hong Kong dollars.
