Professor Jackie Ying is first woman to win Turkish Academy of Sciences award

Mustafa Prize Laureate Professor Jackie Y. Ying has won the 2018 Turkish Academy of Sciences (TÜBA) Academy Prize in Science and Engineering Sciences. This award recognises her pioneering work in the synthesis of advanced nanostructured materials for biomedical, catalytic, energy and advanced materials applications.

Professor Ying heads A*STAR’s NanoBio Lab in Singapore. “It is a great honour to receive this Prize from the Turkish Academy of Sciences. I am grateful to be able to do exciting research with the talented scientists and dedicated staff at NanoBio Lab in Singapore.

Source: NanoBio Lab,
A*STAR. Professor Ying
(right) and her daughter
(middle) with Turkish
president Recep Tayyip
Erdogan at the  TÜBA
award ceremony.

"Technological breakthroughs can help to improve the quality of lives and benefit society in many ways. It is my hope that we can make a distinct impact through many successful clinical translation and commercialisation of our research,” said Professor Ying.

The TÜBA Academy Prizes have been presented annually since 2015 in three categories to eminent scientists who demonstrate original, leading and groundbreaking work in their fields. The three award categories are Science and Engineering Sciences, Health and Life Sciences, as well as Social and Human Sciences.

Candidates are nominated by TÜBA members, science academies and inter-academy organisations that collaborate with TÜBA, as well as other international scientific institutions and scientists who have been invited as nominators. The nominees in each category are evaluated by a committee composed of TÜBA members and renowned scientists, who select the winners via a rigorous peer review of their work.

Professor Ying is the only female recipient of the TÜBA Academy Prizes in 2018. She is also the first woman to receive the TÜBA Academy Prize in Science and Engineering Sciences. The other 2018 TÜBA Academy Prize winners are Professor Fatih Mehmet Uҫkun of the University of Minnesota (Health and Life Sciences category), and joint winners Professor Bold Luvsandorj of the Mongolian Academy of Sciences and Professor Viorel Panaite of the University of Bucharest (Social and Human Sciences category).

Each laureate received an Academy medal and US$30,000.

Malaysia, Indonesia universities win IsDB Prizes for Science and Technology

The 15th IsDB Prizes for Science and Technology have been announced, and two of the winners are from Southeast Asia: 

• Universitas Indonesia has been awarded a prize for its overall outstanding contribution to social and economic development

• Faculty of Chemical and Energy Engineering, Universiti, Teknologi, Malaysia, which has won for most outstanding contribution in a given scientific field


Established in 1849, it is among the oldest tertiary institutions in Indonesia and among the top universities of the world. Over the years, its scholarly work has had significant scientific technological, socioeconomic, and environmental impact in Indonesia. In the last five years the university has contributed to the development of human resources in Indonesia as well as the region by awarding a large number of graduates and post graduates degrees. It has also published in the same period huge number of impactful books and scientific articles. The university has registered a large number of patents and inventions, of which many have been either commercialised or industrialised. The university helped increase the value of local resources through its research by developing techniques for manufacturing of palm oil derivatives and fuel additives which has benefited Indonesian companies.

The Faculty of Chemical and Energy Engineering of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (FCEE) is a recognised center for research and development and education in the areas of biotechnology and natural products, membrane technology, process systems, hydrogen economy and energy in general. The staff of FCEE produce over 400 scientific articles in one year alone. Pioneering work at the FCEE has led to the development of advanced membranes that can be used for gas separation in the oil and gas industry, water and waste water treatments as well as sea water desalination. FCEE has 78 patents, with 32 products commercialised. In the last five years, FCEE has awarded 132 PhD degrees and 808 MSc degrees.

“I would like to congratulate the winners of this year’s competition,” said Dr Bandar Hajjar, President of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB). “IsDB is proud of their inspiring feats in the field of scientific and technological research. I hope other universities and scientific centres in member countries benefit from these admirable examples.”

The prize was established in 2002 to promote science and technology excellence and capacity building in IsDB member countries. Each year, three institutions are selected by an independent panel of eminent scientists external to the IsDB to receive the prize in one of three categories. Each prize consists of a cash award of US$100,000 and a trophy.

This year’s prizes will be awarded during the 42nd Annual Meeting of IsDB’s Board of Governors, which will take place in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on 17 to 18 May 2017.

Issue 21 of ISESCO Journal of Science and Technology now available

Source: ISESCO. Cover for issue 21 of the Journal of Science 
and Technology.

Issue 21 of the ISESCO Journal of Science and Technology, published by the ISESCO Centre for Promotion of Scientific Research (ICPSR), is now available.

The issue contains scientific articles by researchers from Indonesia, Turkey, Iran, Azerbaijan and the UK.

The journal, published in English, accepts papers by scientists and scholars from the Islamic world on medicine, biotechnology, information technology, chemistry, geology, water management, agricultural science and the environment protection.

Interested?

Read the electronic version of the journal

Winners of the 14th IDB Prizes for Science and Technology are from Kuwait, Turkey and Bangladesh

Three scientific institutions have won this year’s 14th IDB Prizes for Science and Technology.

The 2016 winners, chosen by an independent committee are:

• Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KSIR): Overall Outstanding Contribution to Social and Economic Development
KSIR was selected for its scientific and technological contributions and accomplishments, which have had a positive impact on the socioeconomic development of Kuwait and other IDB member countries. Its research and scientific achievements are centred on enhanced oil exploration, innovative desalination, waste water treatment and zero liquid discharge. KISR’s technologies in these fields are being used in the region and around the world. KISR has a longstanding tradition of fostering young talent and promoting innovative scientific research.

• NanoManyetik Bilimsel Cihazlar Sanayi ve Ticaret, Turkey: Most Outstanding Contribution in a Given Scientific Field

NanoManyetik Bilimsel Cihazlar Sanayi ve Ticaret was selected for its high quality of research and its commercial application in applied nanomagnetics. The company specialises in the development of sensing, measurements, characterisation and manipulation of nanosystems.

• Bangladesh Institute of Nuclear Agriculture: Most Noted Scientific Institution from a Least Developed Member Country The Bangladesh Institute of Nuclear Agriculture was selected for its outstanding contribution to the field of nuclear technologies in agriculture. The institute was established in 1961 to develop friendly nuclear technologies to enhance the performance of the agriculture sector, one of the major economic drivers in Bangladesh. It has a team of 170 scientists and researchers who focus on biotechnology and crop management. The team has published nearly 300 scientific research papers. The institute has successfully commercialised some of its technologies, with nearly 40 products on the market, and has close collaborations with many scientific institutions globally. 

"IDB is proud of their inspiring feats in the field of scientific and technological research. I hope other universities and scientific centres in member countries benefit from these admirable examples,” said
Dr Ahmad Mohamed Ali, President of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Group.

The prize was established in 2002 (1422) to promote science and technology excellence and capacity building in IDB member countries. Each year, three institutions are selected by an independent panel of eminent scientists outside the bank to receive the prizes, which consist of US$100,000 and a trophy.

The award ceremony will be held at the 41st Annual Meeting of IDB’s Board of Governors, which will take place in Jakarta, Indonesia from 15 to 19 May.

Ibn al-Haytham’s Light Film Contest deadlines extended

Source: Mustafa Prize.

The organisers of the Ibn al-Haytham’s Light Film Contest in Iran have extended the deadline for registration in the face of overwhelming participation. More than 10 thousand students in groups of two or three have registered in this contest to date.

According to the Public Relations Department of the Mustafa Prize, the original deadline for registration was December 31, 2015 while the deadline for film submission was February 11, 2016. Students can now register themselves and submit their films with the subject of light and its applications at the same time at http://noor.mustafaprize.org. The extension of the registration of the contest to February 11, 2016, has pushed back other dates. The winners and selected films will be announced April 22, 2016 instead.

The prizes for the contest have also changed, from 100 Bahar Azadi gold coins to 200, and another 100 winners added for a total of 200. Top 10 schools and research centers, based on arbitration will receive 100 million rial grants to equip their laboratories.

The Ibn al-Haytham’s Light Film Contest aims to familiarise the students with optic sciences, light and its applications. Under the rules, each team of two or three must make a one-minute film on a relevant topic. More than 300 films are available at http://noor.mustafaprize.org as samples.

The Tehran and Fars provinces have the most registered students so far and the Razi research centre in Shiraz tops the list of registrars with more than 350 groups registered for this competition. Afarinesh research centre from Tehran district 4 and Avicenna research centre from Tehran district 15 are next with more than 200 groups registered. 

Professor Jackie Ying wins Mustafa Prize award

Source: Mustafa Prize web page. Professor Ying is on the left, and Professor Yaghi on the right.

The 2015 Mustafa Prize winners are Professor Jackie Ying, Executive Director of the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN) of A*STAR in Singapore and Jordanian-American scientist Professor Omar Yaghi of the University of California, Berkeley for the Nano Science and Nanotechnologies Award. Each laureate received US$500,000 in prize money and a medal at an award ceremony in Tehran, Iran on December 25.

Source: Mustafa Prize. The Mustafa Prize logo.

The Mustafa Prize is granted to research that has improved human life and made tangible and cutting-edge innovations on the boundaries of science or has presented new scientific methodology. Besides the Top Scientific Achievement category, the Mustafa Prize also recognises achievements in the Life Science and Medical Sciences, Nano Science and Nanotechnologies, and Information and Communication Science and Technologies categories.

Dr Hassan Zohoor, Chairman of the science committee of Mustafa Prize, said, "In the first three categories, the nominees must be citizens of one of the 57 Islamic countries while in the fourth category the nominee must be Muslim but being citizen of an Islamic country is not mandatory.”
He explained, “Laureates of this prize are selected among 100 works that have been selected for the final arbitration by the jury. These works must be original and innovative and results in a tangible effect in human lives. Also, the nominated scientists must have good international reputation. At the end, and with regard to the criterion described earlier, two scientists were selected in the fields of nano-biotechnology sciences and nanoscience and nanotechnology.”

Professor Ying won the inaugural  award for “her great scientific and technological contributions and achievements to the synthesis of well-designed advanced nanostructured materials and systems, nanostructured biomaterials and miniaturised biosystems for various interesting applications.”

“Research is something that I have been really passionate about. It combines the search for an unknown solution to grand challenges that can impact our lives, with the drive to innovate, translate and commercialise. Perhaps the most fulfilling part of the work is the nurturing of young scientists to share my vision and mission to make a difference through our work,” said Professor Ying.

Professor Ying’s research has led to many new materials and systems with unique functionalities and size-dependent properties that tackle major challenges in medicine, chemistry and energy. These inventions have been applied towards drug delivery, cell and tissue engineering, biosensing and diagnostics, catalysis and pharmaceuticals synthesis, battery and fuel cell systems. She has 340 publications in leading journals, and over 150 primary patents issued or pending, many of which have been successfully licensed for commercialisation by multinational companies and startups.

“Amongst the many novel outcomes of her work, Professor Ying’s contribution to the development of stimuli-responsive polymeric nanoparticles that deliver insulin to diabetic patients only when their blood glucose levels are high, without the need for external blood glucose monitoring, is considered an outstanding scientific approach of great promise for improving the quality of life of mankind in the near future,” said Professor Hossein Zohour, Chairman of the Scientific Committee of the Mustafa Prize.

The glucose-sensitive nanoparticles developed by Professor Ying’s laboratory can auto-regulate the release of insulin depending on the blood glucose levels. This drug delivery system bypasses the need for blood glucose monitoring by finger pricks, and allows insulin to be delivered orally or by nasal passage, instead of through injection. This technology would greatly benefit the diabetic patients by helping to prevent hyperglycemic and hypoglycemic conditions and the associated organ damage.

Professor Ying co-founded SmartCells, to commercialise this nanomedicine. This spinoff company was acquired by Merck in 2010, with potential aggregate payments in excess of US$500 million to further develop the technology for clinical trials.

The Mustafa Prize was established in 2013 to recognise leading researchers and scientists of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member states, as well as Muslim researchers from around the world. Presented biennially by the Iranian government, The Mustafa Prize aims to encourage education and research by playing a pioneering role in developing regional relations between science and technology institutions working in the OIC member countries. It also seeks to improve scientific relations between academics and researchers in order to facilitate the growth of science in the OIC member states, the second largest inter-governmental organisation in the world after the United Nations.

posted from Bloggeroid

The Garden of Hadith Scholars is available in an English translation from Turath Publishing

Source: Turath Publishing
website.

Bustan al-Muhaddithin, translated from Persian into Arabic and annotated by Muhammad Akram Al-Nadwi, and translated in turn into English by Aisha Bewley, is a new offering from Turath Publishing.

The book, by Shah 'Abd al-‘Aziz Dihlawi, is a popular anthology of hadith sciences, major books of hadith, and muhadditheen, or people who transmit stories about the Prophet (ﷺ).

Shah 'Abd al-‘Aziz Dihlawi (1745-1822) was born in Delhi, India, and was a leading Muslim scholar of his time. Dr Muhammad Akram Al-Nadwi, who translated the work from Persian into Arabic and annotated it, was born in Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh, India. He is the author and translator of over 25 books on the Islamic sciences and the Arabic language. 

The paperback has 382 pages and costs £17 at the Turath Publishing online store. The company ships worldwide.

Oxford encyclopedias on Islam are ideal companion volumes

Source: OUP website.

Two sets of encyclopedias on Islam were published by the Oxford University Press (OUP) within months of each other last year. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Islam and Politics (ISBN: 9780199739356) provides in-depth coverage and discussion of the political dimensions of Islam and the Muslim world. 

Developments in Muslim societies in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries have highlighted the need for a major reference work focusing primarily on these dimensions, says the OUP. The encyclopedia covers major turning points in contemporary Muslim history, including:

• The realisation of internal decay and relentless quest for reform
• The collapse of the Islamic caliphate
• The fall of most parts of the Muslim world under western colonialism
• The emergence of nation-states
• The dominance of secular ideologies
• The rise of Islamic revivalist movements and faith-based political, economic, and social alternatives
• The confrontation between Islamic movements and secular inspired regimes

Based on the 2009 The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World, The Oxford Encyclopedia of Islam and Politics brings together over 400 new and updated entries to create a single, specialised reference source on this important topic. The two-volume set runs to 1,452 pages and costs US$395.

Source: OUP website. 

The Oxford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Science, and Technology in Islam, first edition, was published May 2014 (ISBN: 9780199812578). This US$395. two-volume set runs to a total of 1,152 pages, and provides an overview as well as a comprehensive and detailed survey of the main features of philosophy, science, medicine and technology in the Muslim world. 

The more than 250 A-Z entries cover of Islamic philosophy, sciences, and technologies from the classical through contemporary periods. The tone is scholarly, based on primary and secondary sources, and aimed at advanced students of Islamic philosophy and science. The selection of entries as well as their content reflect the most recent research in the field, providing scholars and advanced students with an authoritative reference work.