Liu Chong (L) and Gu Quanquan (R) from Jiangshan, Quzhou, Zhejiang win Sloan Research Fellowships. [Photo/qz828.com]

Liu Chong and Gu Quanquan from Jiangshan, a county-level city in Quzhou, East China's Zhejiang province were included in the list of Sloan Research Fellowships and received awards for their chemistry and computer science achievements respectively, local media reported on Feb 18.

The Sloan Research Fellowships aim to support and reward outstanding scientists and academics in the early stages of their careers. Since 2007, 51 of the winners have gone on to win the Nobel Prize.

After graduating from Fudan University, Liu furthered his studies at the University of California in Berkeley. At the age of 30, Liu was named one of the top 10 outstanding young scientists by Science News, an authoritative journal in the United States.

"He has broken new ground. He is the first to combine bacteria with metals or other inorganic materials to replicate the energy of photosynthesis and produce chemical reactions," said professor Yang Peidong, Liu's doctoral supervisor.

Gu received his bachelor's and master's degrees from Tsinghua University in 2007 and 2010. He later received an award from the National Science Foundation of the United States in 2017 and was invited to deliver a report at the International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence in 2020. He is presently an assistant professor at the University of California in Los Angeles.