Lijing Shao, Assistant Professor in the Kavli Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics at Peking University, is among the 15 awardees of Alibaba Damo Academy Young Fellows of 2022. The goal of Damo Academy Young Fellow is to help aspiring young scientists to flourish. This fellowship is awarded to Prof. Shao for his contributions in proposing new tests of gravity theories, leading to significant advances in our understanding of the fundamental physical laws.
Using precision measurements in radio pulsar timing and gravitational waves, Prof. Shao designed new methods to probe the fundamental aspects of spacetime and gravitation in the so-called “strong-field” regimes. These methods provide stringent new tests of Einstein’s General Relativity under the extreme conditions provided by neutron stars and black holes. Prof. Shao also leads the Chinese efforts on theoretical studies of pulsars for the Square Kilometre Array project, and participates in large international teams, including the LIGO/Virgo/KAGRA Collaboration and the Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration.
“It is a great honor for me to be a DAMO Academy Young Fellow,” said Prof. Shao, “Alibaba DAMO Academy recognizes the importance of basic research for the future of our nation and our society. I am thankful to Alibaba’s generous support for fundamental sciences and for young scientists.”
Lijing Shao
Prof. Shao obtained his PhD degree on Theoretical Physics from the School of Physics at Peking University in 2015, under the joint supervision of Profs. Bo-Qiang Ma (PKU), Michael Kramer (MPIfR), and Norbert Wex (MPIfR). He then worked as a Junior Scientist in the Albert Einstein Institute in Potsdam, Germany and as a Scientific Staff in the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Bonn, Germany. In 2018, he joined the Kavli Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics at Peking University. He is the group leader of a Max Planck Partner Group, funded by the Max Planck Society. His group is composed of young postdocs and students who are actively contributing to the field of gravitational astrophysics.
According to the Charter, the Alibaba Damo Academy Young Fellow is an unofficial, non-profit public service award established by Alibaba Group in 2018, organized by Alibaba DAMO Academy and supported by the Alibaba Foundation. The award aims to “support outstanding young scholars in China who are fully engaged in scientific research in academic and research institutions and have the potential to achieve outstanding results in the future and become the backbone of scientific research in China.”
[1] https://damo.alibaba.com/damo-academy-young-fellow
