The Shaw Prize Foundation announced in Hong Kong Wednesday (June 21) three laureates of the Shaw Prize for 2006.

The prize, which is regarded by some as the Nobel Prize in the east, consists of three annual prizes of Astronomy, Life Science and Medicine, and Mathematical Sciences, each bearing a monetary award of 1 million U.S. dollars.

Professor Wu Wenjun of the Chinese Academy of Sciences at Beijing gained the Mathematical Sciences award for his contributions to the new interdisciplinary field of mathematics and mechanization.

Professor David Mumford of the Brown University of U.S.A. shared the Mathematical Sciences award for his contributions to mathematics, and to the new interdisciplinary fields of pattern theory and vision research.

The Astronomy Award was jointly awarded to Professor Saul Perlmutter of the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory of the University of California, Professor Adam Riess of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore of the United States of America, and Professor Brian Schmidt of the Mount Stromlo Observatory of the Australian National University.

They are commended for discovering that the expansion rate of the universe is accelerating, implying in the simplest interpretation that the energy density of space is non-vanishing even in the absence of any matter and radiation.

Life Science and Medicine Award went to Professor Xiaodong Wang of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas in the United States of America, for his discovery of the biochemical basis of programmed cell death, a vital process that balances cell birth and defends against cancer.

Established in 2002 under the auspices of Run Run Shaw, the Prize honors individuals who have achieved significant breakthrough in academic and scientific research or application and whose work has resulted in a positive and profound impact on mankind.

The Shaw Prize is an international award managed and administered by the Shaw Prize Foundation based in Hong Kong.

Editor: Wing