The Daya Bay Reactor Neutrino Experiment and the Upgrade Project of the Beijing Electron Positron Collider (BEPCII) were awarded State Science and Technology Awards at the 2016 State Science and Technology Awards Conference held in Beijing at the Great Hall of the People on January 9, 2017.

The Daya Bay Reactor Neutrino Experiment won the top prize in the State Natural Sciences Award category, and the BEPCII project the highest award in the National Science and Technology Progress Award category.

The upgraded Beijing Electron Positron Collider (BEPCII) (PHOTO BY CAS)

A neutrino detector is installed in a large reservoir. (PHOTO BY CAS)

Professor Wang Yifang, Director of IHEP, and Professor Chen Hesheng, BEPCII Project Manager, attended the ceremony to receive the prizes.

The Daya Bay experiment studies neutrino oscillations and is designed to measure the mixing angle θ13 using antineutrinos produced by the reactors of the Daya Bay Nuclear Power Plant and the Ling Ao Nuclear Power Plant. On March 8, 2012, the Daya Bay collaboration announced discovery of a new kind of neutrino transformation and an accurate measurement of θ13. This significant achievement is internationally regarded as a milestone in neutrino physics research.

BEPCII luminosity reached 3.2×1032cm-2s-1 and passed national acceptance in July 2009. Since then the machine has run successfully for high energy physics experimental data collection. Its performance is efficient and stable at beam energies from 1 to 2.3 GeV. After six and a half years of hard work, BEPCII luminosity reached its design parameters of 1×1033cm-2s-1 at energy of 1.89 GeV. The improvement of the collision luminosity offers a better chance to discover more physics results in the future. More original research achievements are expected in the field of tau-charm physics.

The State Science and Technology Awards are China's highest honor in science and technology. The Awards were founded to recognize citizens and organizations with remarkable contributions to scientific and technological progress, and to promote the development of science and technology. The Regulations on the State Science and Technology Awards were enacted by the State Council, which established five State Awards in science and technology.