On September 21 2017, Shenzhen held the city’s science and technology awards conference. Wang Weizhong, member of the Guangdong Provincial Standing Committee and Secretary of the Shenzhen Municipal Party Committee, attended the meeting and delivered a speech. Mayor Chen Rugui presided over the meeting and vice mayor Ai Xuefeng informed the audience of the innovation-driven developments that had been unrolled in the city, before reading out the results of the 2016 Shenzhen Science and Technology Awards, which included SUSTech’s Materials Science and Engineering associate professor Cheng Chunrong who received the Shenzhen 2016 Youth Science and Technology Award.

The Youth Science and Technology Award is awarded by the Shenzhen Municipal Government in order to mobilize the enthusiasm and creativity of the science and technology community to stimulate scientific and technological innovation, promote technological progress, and accelerate the construction of national innovation cities, according to the “National Science and Technology Award Regulations” and “Guangdong Science and Technology Award Committee”. It is one of the seven science and technology awards handed out during the ceremony. Others included the Mayor’s Prize, Natural Science Award, Technology Invention Award, Science and Technology Progress Award, Patent Award and Standard Award.

Cheng Chun is an associate professor of the Materials Science and Engineering department of SUSTech. The discipline is a core subject of major projects such as the National Special Research Program, the Ministry of Science and Technology Innovation Team and the Shenzhen Peacock Team Project. Prof. Chun was selected as an “Outstanding Youth Talent” of Guangdong Province, as well as being selected for the Shenzhen Peacock Plan B class; Elsevier press – JAMAMD Journal editorial board; city high-level talent association and city expert talent association. He has been involved in 15 scientific projects from municipal to national levesl, with cumulative funding surpassing 20 million yuan, and was the leader of 7 national and provincial level projects. Within five years he published nearly 40 SCI papers, including in prestigious scientific journals such as Nat. Comm. and ACS Nano, and he actively promoted research and development of new perovskite solar cells, making significant contributions to the promotion and popularization of photovoltaic solar energy applications.