STORY: Chief scientist of China's FAST telescope awarded Marcel Grossmann Award
SHOOTING TIME: July 9, 2024
DATELINE: July 10, 2024
LENGTH: 00:01:49
LOCATION: PESCARA, Italy
CATEGORY: TECHNOLOGY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of the award ceremony
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (Chinese): LI DI, Chief scientist of China's Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST)
3. SOUNDBITE 2 (English): REMO RUFFINI, International Center for Relativistic Astrophysics Network (ICRANet)
4. various of China's FAST telescope

STORYLINE:

Chinese radio astronomer Li Di was awarded the Marcel Grossmann Award on Tuesday for his research contributions in the field of fast radio burst (FRBs).
   
Li, the chief scientist of China's Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST), is the first Chinese scientist to receive the prestigious physics prize for achievements accomplished in China.
   
Li was awarded for his groundbreaking contributions to the scientific capabilities of the world's most sensitive radio telescope, including precise measurements of interstellar magnetic fields and advancing the study of FRBs to a high statistical significance, according to the committee of the 17th Marcel Grossmann Meeting, currently underway in Pescara, Italy, until Friday.
   
"Humans share the same sky, and the international opening of astronomy is inevitable," Li told Xinhua in an interview. "Strengthening China-EU cooperation, especially through the open sharing of astronomical data between the two sides, can greatly advance cutting-edge exploration and effectively prevent decoupling."
   
SOUNDBITE 1 (Chinese): LI DI, Chief scientist of China's Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST)
"It's truly a great honor and very exciting. This award is largely based on the work of several generations. The construction and efficient operation of the FAST, for instance, can be traced back to the mid-1990s when Mr. Nan Rendong and my predecessors at the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences initiated and promoted the project. The FAST telescope is currently the most effective device in the world for observing space in the radio frequency band. We are only at the beginning of this historical journey. We also hope that in our generation, in our country, and within our cultural context, we can contribute to this era as it deserves."

SOUNDBITE 2 (English): REMO RUFFINI, International Center for Relativistic Astrophysics Network (ICRANet)
"We are very honored to have Di Li here. We have all been admiring the fantastic world he has been able to create in FAST."

The Marcel Grossmann Award, established in 1985 and presented every three years, is considered one of the most prestigious international awards in physics. Previous Chinese laureates include Nobel Prize winners Yang Zhenning and Li Zhengdao, as well as world-class mathematician Qiu Chengtong.
   
The Marcel Grossmann Meeting, initiated in 1975, aims to promote research in gravity, relativity, and related areas, focusing on mathematical foundations, physical predictions, and experimental tests.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Pescara, Italy.
(XHTV)