UNESCO honour Chinese professor with award for ethics in science

A pioneering Chinese scientist in the field of bioethics, a specialized discipline dealing with ethical controversies brought about by advances in biology and medicine, was awarded the 2009 United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organizations (UNESCO) Avicenna Prize today.

Renzong Qiu will receive the UNESCO award for ethics in science, which consists of a certificate, a commemorative gold medal and a cheque for $10,000, at a ceremony on Friday at the agency’s headquarters in Paris.

The Avicenna Prize committee noted that Mr. Qiu’s research in the ethics of science and steadfast public advocacy of ethical issues related to science have established him as a major figure not only in the Chinese academic community but worldwide.

Currently an Emeritus Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Philosophy in China, Mr. Qiu has published over 20 books and nearly 280 articles on ethical issues and drafted guidelines for researchers and policy-makers, on top of his scientific work on life-sustaining technology, assisted reproduction technology, public health and cloning.

The Avicenna Prize is presented every two years, with Margaret Somerville – who has dual citizenship from Australia and Canada – receiving it in 2004 and Abdallah S. Daar of Oman in 2006.

Established by UNESCO on the initiative of Iran, the Prize is named after the 11th-century Persian physician and humanist philosopher Abu Ali al-Husain Ibn Abdallah Ibn Sina, known in Europe as Avicenna.