Recently, the results of the Rank Prize, the UK’s top science award, have been announced. Liang Junzhong, a 1979 cohort alumnus who graduated from the Department of Physics at Nankai University, won the 2024 Rank Prize (optoelectronics) for his original innovative research on adaptive optics in the field of retinal microscopy imaging. His other research results have been widely applied to human eye aberration measurement, wavefront-guided individualized excimer vision correction, and multifocal intraocular lens for cataract treatment, which have benefited many patients.

This year’s Rank Prize goes to four outstanding scientists in the field of electronic science: Liang Junzhong, Donald T. Miller, Austin Roorda, and David R. Williams.

The website of the Rank Prize shows that the four winners have played a leading role in this field. The adaptive optics retinal imaging technology has made the important structure of retina visible in real time under the microscope without the need for invasive surgery, which has significantly advanced the understanding of human vision-related research.

Liang Junzhong said that he was honored to receive the 2024 Rank Prize and was grateful to the other three winners and participants of the study, all of whom have made outstanding contributions to the application of adaptive optics to research on retinal microscopy imaging. Liang Junzhong also said that his achievements in scientific research were closely associated with his years spent at Nankai University, his alma mater.

The Rank Prize is one of the top scientific awards in the United Kingdom and is regarded as the “Nobel” Prize in the field of optoelectronics and nutrition science. The award mainly goes to those who have made original innovations in the field of optoelectronic science and nutrition science and have made important contributions to human society. Only a few Chinese people worldwide have won the Rank Prize, including Yuan Longping, the “father of hybrid rice”; Nie Shuming (1979 cohort chemistry major graduating from Nankai University), who “used quantum dot nanocrystals as biological tags”; Charles Kuen Kao, the “father of optical fiber”; Zheng Hua, a scientist from Taiwan, China; and Wang Guoyu and Lu Mingying, “pioneers of CMOS imaging”.

（Edited and translated by Nankai News Team.)