BEIJING, China: Renowned Pakistani scientist Professor Dr Atta-ur-Rahman has been awarded the ‘China International Science and Technology Cooperation Award’ for the year 2020 which is the highest scientific award of China.
The award was conferred on Professor Dr Atta-ur-Rahman by the President of China Xi Jinping on January 10, 2020 in The Great Peoples Hall in Beijing.
Professor Dr Atta-ur-Rahman received the award in recognition of his contributions in the field of chemistry and the numerous strong collaborations that he has developed with China in the fields of organic chemistry, genetics, pharmacology, agricultural sciences, virology, nanotechnology and other emerging areas.
This prestigious award has previously been given to several leading scientists of the world including the Nobel Laureates, Dr Carlo Rubbia (Nobel Prize in physics, 1984) and Dr Zhores I. Alferov (Nobel Prize in physics, 2000).
Dr Atta-ur-Rahman is the most decorated scientist of Pakistan having won four Civil Awards including Tamgha-i-Imtiaz, Sitara-i-Imtiaz, Hilal-i-Imtiaz and the highest national award Nishan-i-Imtiaz.
Currently, Dr Atta-ur-Rahman is serving as the Chairman of Prime Minister’s Task Force on Science and Technology, the Vice Chairman on Prime Minister’s Task Force on Technology-Driven Knowledge-Economy, and the Co-Chairman, Task Force on Information Technology. He has also served the nation as a Federal Minister of Science and Technology, and the Founding Chairman of Higher Education Commission (HEC).
Professor Dr Atta-ur-Rahman obtained his Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Cambridge University (1968). He has 1250 publications in several fields of organic chemistry including 775 research publications, 45 international patents, 69 chapters in books and 341 books published largely by major US and European presses. He is the Editor-in-Chief of eight European Chemistry journals. He is Editor of the world’s leading encyclopedic series of volumes on natural products “Studies in Natural Product Chemistry” 62 volumes of which have been published under his Editorship‎ during the last two decades. As many as 82 students have completed their Ph.D. degrees under his supervision.
