The XIN Jieliu Award and WEN Tinghuan Award were established by the Systematic and Applied Acarology Society in 2023 to recognize and support emergent acarological researchers (within the first five years after the award of a PhD degree) in China. This is the second category of awards established by the Systematic and Applied Acarology Society, which also established the James McMurtry Award in 2018 to recognize a living acarologist who has made outstanding contributions to acarine systematics, applied acarology, or both (Zhang 2018). The James McMurtry Award is announced and presented to awardees during the opening session of the International Congress of Acarology every four years, whereas the XIN Jieliu Award and WEN Tinghuan Award are announced and presented to awardees during the National Congress of Acarology in China every two years.
The XIN Jieliu Award is named after Prof XIN Jielie (1909–1994), one of the founding fathers of acarology in China (Zhang & Dong 2010). Prof Xin was a professor of biology at Fudan University during most of his career, and his work covered mostly agricultural acarology and mites in stored products. The XIN Jieliu Award is thus instituted to recognize and support emergent researchers in agricultural acarology and other fields except for medical/veterinary acarology.
The WEN Tinghuan Award is named after Prof WEN Tinghuan, a retired professor at Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, China. He is one of the winners of the 2022 James McMurtry Award. His work covers the field of medical/veterinary acarology. Thus, the WEN Tinghuan Award is founded to recognize and support emergent researchers in medical/veterinary acarology.
After the call for applications in August 2023, I received ten valid applications for the XIN Jieliu Award and the WEN Tinghuan Award. I invited 15 acarologists from different institutions to evaluate and score the applicants on a scale of 1 to 10. Accessors who are in conflict of interest with any applicant (i.e., of the same institution or close collaboration, such as co-authoring papers in the last five years) are asked to abstain from voting for that applicant. The applicants with the highest average scores for each award are the winners to be presented with a certificate as well as a prize of US$5,000 per awardee for his/her independent research projects. Each awardee is expected to submit at least one paper from the award-funded project to the Society's flagship journal, Systematic and Applied Acarology.
For the inaugural round in 2023, the XIN Jieliu Award has two winners with the same score of 9 out of 10 and was announced and presented by Prof JIN Daochao to Dr LIU Jianfeng (Guizhou University) and by Prof WANG Jingjun to Dr LI Guangyun (Southwest University). The WEN Tinghuan Award was announced and presented by Prof LIU Jingze to Dr PENG Peiying (Qujing Medical College). The awards were presented during a ceremony at the 14th National Congress of Acarology in Guiyang, China (22 September 2023).
FIGURE 1.
Dr LIU Jianfeng (middle) is one of the winners of the 2023 Xin Jiejiu Award, which was announced and presented by Prof JIN Daochao of Guizhou University (left). Prof Zhang Zhi-Qiang (right) presided over the award ceremony.
FIGURE 2.
Dr LI Guangyun of Southwest University (middle) is one of the winners of the 2023 Xin Jiejiu Award, which was announced and presented by Prof Wang Jingjun of Southwest University (left). Prof Zhang Zhi-Qiang (right) presided over the award ceremony.
FIGURE 3.
Dr Peng Peiying of Qujing Medical College (middle) is the winner of the 2023 Wen Tinghuan Award, which was announced and presented by Prof Liu Jingze of Hebei Normal University (right). Prof Zhang Zhi-Qiang (left) presided over the award ceremony.
About the Systematic and Applied Acarology Society. The Systematic and Applied Acarology Society is an international society dedicated to promoting the development of acarology and facilitating collaboration and the exchange of information among acarologists in different parts of the world. It was established in 1995 and has been supported by members from around the world. The society publishes the monthly journal Systematic and Applied Acarology. It currently administers and supports the James McMurtry Award, the Xin Jieliu Award, and the Wen Tinghuan Award.
About the National Congress of Acarology in China. The National Congress of Acarology in China was organized by the Special Committee of Acarology of the Entomological Society of China in collaboration with local hosts of each congress. The first congress was held in September 1963. The 14th Congress was held in Guiyang from 21 to 23 September 2023. The inaugural round of the Xin Jieliu Award and Wen Tinghuan Award was announced and presented during the last congress in Guiyang on 22 September.
FIGURE 4.
Group photo of participants at the 14th National Congress of Acarology in China (Guiyang, 22 September 2023).
© Systematic & Applied Acarology Society
