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Shin-ichi Kurokawa awarded China’s 2012 Friendship Award

October 12, 2012

Shin-ichi Kurokawa, professor emeritus at KEK, was awarded Friendship Award of China, the highest honor that the Chinese government bestows on foreign experts for their contributions and dedication to China’s economic structure and social development. Launched in 1991, the award is presented in the fields of economics, technology, education, culture, and talents training.

The awards ceremony for the 2012 Friendship Award was held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on October 28. 50 experts from 22 countries, including four from Japan, have received the award. On 29 September, the Prime Minister of China, Wen Jiabao, met the awardees, who were then invited to the state banquet to celebrate the 63th anniversary of the creation of the People's Republic of China..

Kurokawa has been fostering a cooperative relationship in accelerator science between China and Japan for a long time. In January, he was recognized with an award for International Scientific Cooperation by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), which honors eminent foreign experts who make outstanding contributions in facilitating cooperation with CAS in science and technology.

Kurokawa has visited China sixty times. Since the 1980s, he has actively promoted academic cooperation and exchanges in science and technology, collaborating with Chinese researchers at the Institute of High Energy Physics (IHEP), the Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, the University of Science and Technology of China, and the Institute of Modern Physics.

In 1999, he organized the first major Asian accelerator school in China and carried it to a successful conclusion. In 2000, he initiated a collaborative program between the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science and CAS. This program continued for a decade and saw the involvement of many institutions and universities in China and Japan. Later, Korea and India also participated in the project, expanding the collaborative program Asian-wide.

Kurokawa also helped IHEP to upgrade the Beijing Electron Positron Collider (BEPC) to BEPC II, transferring the superconducting accelerating technology used at the KEKB accelerator to China. He also served as a member of the Machine Advisory Committee for the BEPC II. Furthermore, he served as chair of the Asian Committee for Future Accelerator (ACFA) from 2004 to 2006 and chaired the Steering Committee for the International Linear Collider (ILCSC) from 2005 to 2007.

“I am filled with deep emotion at having received this year’s Friendship Award during the current difficult situation between China and Japan. As a scientist, I believe that our community is responsible for continuing to promote and deepen the collaborative relationship between the two countries. I am quite confident that this collaboration will continue to grow based on the strong foothold we have built,” Kurokawa said.