Fifty scientists have been awarded this year’s Xplorer Prize for their achievements in basic science and cutting-edge technology research.

The awardees come from 33 organizations in 15 Chinese mainland cities. Their research covers a range of cutting-edge technological fields, including visual restoration using artificial retinal photostimulation, generation and manipulation of non-Abelian anyons, drug development for sensorineural hearing loss, carbon dioxide conversion applications in manned closed environments, and planetary mobile exploration robots.

The Xplorer Prize, co-initiated by Tencent Holdings founder Ma Huateng and a number of renowned scientists, aims to encourage talented young scientists to concentrate on basic research and research, and develop frontier technologies.

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Each winner will receive three million yuan ($421,500) within five years from the Tencent Foundation which said there’ll be no strings attached.

Among this year’s awardees, 13 are young scientists, with six of them 35 years old or younger. The number of female scientists has also increased, with nine women being awarded, accounting for 18 percent.

“This year’s results are a great encouragement to young women who aspire to pursue scientific research. If they can do it, so can I. Others have paved the way, and it's not as difficult as it seems. This is a very important signal,” Yan Ning, an academician at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and founding president of the Shenzhen Medical Academy of Research and Translation, said at the awards ceremony in Shenzhen on Saturday.

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Xi Dan, Tencent’s senior vice-president, said the Xplorer Prize not only offers successful scientists significant financial incentives but, more importantly, spiritual encouragement.

The award also builds a platform for scientists in various fields to get to know each other and build connections, he said. “Through mutual learning, understanding and interaction, such an interdisciplinary collision of ideas could generate even more scientific sparks.”

The prize has funded 347 scientists since its launch in 2019.

Contact the writer at sally@chinadailyhk.com