(Yicai Global) Nov. 23 -- The French Academy of Sciences awarded this year's Sophie Germain Prize and Dr. and Mrs. Henri Labbe Prize to France-based Chinese scientists Ma Xiaonan and Peng Ling, respectively, in recognition of their outstanding contributions to mathematical and biochemical studies.

The occasion marks the first time Chinese scientists have won the annual awards. The academy presents dozens of scientific awards every year to leading scientists working in pure research or applied studies in mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology and medicine in France. It held the 2017 awards ceremony yesterday.

Ma won the Sophie Germain Prize for her remarkable contributions to advances in analytic torsion, nuclear Bergman and geometric quantization studies, as well as mathematical physics research on the Quantum Hall effect, the academy said. She has been researching in France since graduating from the University of Paris-Sud in 1998 with a PhD in mathematics. Ma is currently a professor at the Paris Diderot University and a lecturer at China's University of Science and Technology.

Peng Ling became a senior researcher at the French National Center for Scientific Research in 2008 and is currently a project leader at the Interdisciplinary Nano Science Center of Marseille and a visiting professor at China Pharmaceutical University. Her recent studies focus on applications of smart multi-functional nanomaterial in drug delivery and gene therapy. Her team successfully developed biomimetic dendrite nano carriers for gene therapy, paving the way for applications of nanomaterial in biomedical therapies.

The Sophie Germain Prize began in 2003. It has been awarded to one France-based pure researcher every year since, with winners nominated by the academy and prizes provided by the Sophie Germain Foundation.

The Dr. and Mrs. Henri Labbe Prize began in 1948 and is awarded to outstanding biochemists in France. It was first introduced as a quadrennial award, but became an annual award this year.