On 2 September, the institute hosted an awarding ceremony to present the certificate of CAS Distinguished Scientist to Prof. Matthias C. Rillig, together with an academic seminar. Prof. Shen Renfang, ISSCAS Director, awarded the certificate to Prof. Matthias C. Rillig. Prof. Matthias C. Rillig expressed his gratitude and presented his report “Effects of multiple concurrent global change drivers on soils and ecosystems” during the seminar.

Prof. Renfang Shen awarding the certificate to Prof. Matthias C. Rillig

About Prof. Matthias C. Rillig

Prof. Matthias Rillig is a professor of ecology at Freie Universität Berlin, Germany. Prof. Matthias is a member of the German National Academy of Sciences and the Academia Europaea– the Academy of Europe. Since 2017 he has been a Highly Cited Researcher. His team currently works on a range of topics, including on the effects of global change factors on soils and their biodiversity. Much of the research focuses on fungi, including saprobic fungi andmycorrhiza.

CAS President’s International Fellowship Initiative (PIFI)

The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) offers a package of international fellowships, collectively called the “CAS President’s International Fellowship Initiative (PIFI)”, to support highly-qualified international scientists and postgraduate students to work and study at CAS institutions and strengthen their scientific collaboration with CAS researchers. The PIFI program is available for four categories of international researchers and students: distinguished scientists, visiting scientists, postdoctoral researchers and international PhD students.

The CAS President’s International Fellowship for Distinguished Scientists supports leading international scientists to conduct a lecture tour at CAS for 1-2 weeks. Each professor is invited to visit at least two CAS-affiliated institutions (research institutes or universities) to lecture and interact with CAS researchers and postgraduate students. He or she is also expected to host CAS postdoctoral researchers at CAS expenses at his or her lab for a research stay of 1-3 months.

This fellowship provides each awardee with a stipend of ￥50,000 per week, to cover all expenses for this lecture tour, including a round-trip international airfare, accommodation, meals, transportation and honorarium.

Eligibility Criteria

Candidates should be well established and internationally recognized scientists in their respective research fields, having obtained outstanding scientific accomplishment and prestigious international honors, awards or prizes.