APCTP Announces 2026 C. N. Yang Award Recipients and Upcoming Award Ceremony

Three Outstanding Early-Career Physicists from the Asia-Pacific Region Elected to Receive Awards

During APCTP’s 30th Anniversary Week

The Asia Pacific Center for Theoretical Physics (President Misao SASAKI, hereafter APCTP) has announced that Professor Young Dae YOON of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Professor Tiantian ZHANG of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Professor Naoto SHIRAISHI of the University of Tokyo, Japan, have been elected as recipients of the 2026 AAPPS-APCTP C. N. Yang Award.

※ The award honors Chen Ning Yang (1922–2025), a Chinese-American physicist who received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1957 and served as APCTP’s founding President from 1997 to 2001, while supporting the development of young scientists in the Asia-Pacific region.

Established in 1997, the C. N. Yang Award honors Nobel Laureate Chen Ning Yang, the founding President of APCTP, and recognizes and supports outstanding early-career physicists in the Asia-Pacific region. Originally presented every three years, the award has been jointly organized and presented annually by the Association of Asia Pacific Physical Societies (AAPPS) and APCTP since 2019.

This year, 50 candidates were nominated from 10 countries across the Asia-Pacific region. Following evaluations by a nine-member preliminary review committee and a 13-member selection committee, both composed of distinguished scholars from Korea and abroad, three recipients were elected.

Professor Young Dae YOON was recognized for his research contributions across fusion, space, and astrophysical plasma physics, including magnetic reconnection, nonequilibrium dynamics, and magnetic field generation. In particular, he attracted attention for a collaborative study published in Nature in 2025, which demonstrated how microscopic turbulence can drive changes in macroscopic magnetic field structures.

Professor Yoon previously led an independent research group at APCTP, conducting collaborative research with scientists in Korea and abroad. His recognition highlights the international impact of research developed at APCTP. It is also significant as the award goes to a Korean physicist for the first time in two years, following Professor Gil-Ho LEE of POSTECH in 2024.

The award ceremony will take place in Pohang on November 11, during APCTP’s 30th Anniversary Week (November 9–13), following the 10th APCTP International Scientific Symposium. The ceremony will be held in a hybrid format, with both in-person and online participation.

Each recipient will deliver a 30-minute presentation highlighting their major research achievements. Related articles are also expected to be published in AAPPS Bulletin, an international physics journal jointly published by AAPPS and APCTP.

“These award recipients have made original research contributions through innovative approaches in distinct fields, including plasma physics, condensed matter physics, and nonequilibrium statistical physics,” said APCTP President Misao SASAKI.

“During our 30th Anniversary Week, we look forward to sharing their achievements with researchers from Korea and abroad. We will also support academic exchanges that can turn the connections established through this award into future collaborative research,” he added.