Our Mission

The primary mission of the Foundation is to promote scientific and technological progress to benefit mankind. The name Qiu Shi—meaning “seeking truth”—reflects the Foundation’s commitment to integrity and discovery.

In the early 1990’s, China’s economic development was still in its initial stage, with limited investment in science and technology, and researchers were living and working under very difficult conditions. In accordance with the spirit of “strengthening the country through science and technology, extending assistance in times of need”, the Qiu Shi Science and Technologies Foundation awarded scientific awards to original technological achievements and provided assistance to Chinese researchers.

Through the Qiu Shi Awards, the Foundation honors outstanding researchers across disciplines including Life Sciences & Medicine, Mathematics, Physics, Engineering & Materials Science, Chemistry, and Sustainability Science. Over the past 30 years, the Qiu Shi Awards have been granted to 367 exceptional Chinese scientists, including 3 Lifetime Achievement Awards, 33 Outstanding Scientist Awards, 204 Outstanding Young Scholar Awards, and 127 Outstanding Scientific Team Awards.

Over the years, the Foundation had launched the Qiu Shi Graduate Student Scholarship and the Cha Chi Ming & Liu Bie Ju Undergraduate Student Scholarship in over 20 universities, to award outstanding Ph.D. students and provide financial assistance to exceptional undergraduate students in need. The Foundation has so far granted over 8,000 scholarships. The Foundation is also dedicated to promote exchange between Chinese scientists and the leading international research institutes, by sponsoring Chinese visiting scholars to the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, and funding educational programs such as the Chi-Chih Yao experimental class at Tsinghua University.

The Foundation celebrated its 30 ^th Anniversary in 2024. Continued to be supported by the Cha family and guided by the spirit to “send coal in a snowstorm” — providing timely support where it is needed most, the Foundation has broadened the reach of Qiu Shi Awards beyond mainland China to include recognition of ethnic Chinese scientists working internationally.  Sustainability science emerged as a new disciplinary category supported by the Foundation. Women in STEM, translational research and physician-scientist development have also been identified as new areas for targeted future programming.