On November 2, 2019, the 2019 "Xplorer Prize" Award Ceremony was held in Beijing, and two alumni of College of Chemistry, Nankai University, Wang Xiaochen and You Shuli, were awarded the "Xplorer Prize in Chemistry and New Materials". The "Xplorer Prize" was shared by 50 award-winning young scientists from nine fields, inspiring them to build on their energy and continue to climb the scientific Mount Everest.

Wang Xiaochen, who studied at College of Chemistry, Nankai University in 2003, is currently a PCOSS-Fellow and doctoral tutor at College of Chemistry, Nankai University, as well as a tutor of Poling Class, College of Chemistry. The prize was awarded in recognition of his achievements in the study of boron catalysts and encouraged his exploration of new reactions in boron catalytic, the construction of new catalysts and the improvement of boron catalytic theory.

You Shuli, undergraduate study in College of Chemistry, Nankai University in 1992, is currently doctoral tutor of the Shanghai Institute Of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences. At the award ceremony, he was affirmed for his achievements in developing new concepts, new ligands and reactions in the field of chiral synthesis, especially the introduction of the concept of Catalytic asymmetric aromatization, and encouraged his exploration in the aromatization reaction and its application field.

The XPLORER PRIZE is initiated by Ma Huateng, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Tencent and founder of the Tencent Foundation and 14 scientists to support young science and technology workers aged 45 and below who work full-time in mainland China in basic science and cutting-edge technologies. The awards focused on nine basic and cutting-edge core technologies, including Life Science, Astronomy and Geoscience, Mathematics and Physics, Chemistry and New Materials, Information technology and Electronics, Energy and Environmental protection, Advanced Manufacturing, Transportation and Construction, Cross-disciplinary Technology. The first "The XPLORER PRIZE" attracts 1335 entries. In order to guarantee the authority and impartiality of the award, more than 350 experts from various fields participated in the evaluation and more than 100 academicians participated in the award nomination, recommendation and evaluation process. In order to select and motivate more young science and technology researchers, the jury committee decided to adopt the "new star mechanism". Under the same conditions of application, the younger have the priority to win the prize. Nine winners of the 50 were aged 35 and below, whose proportion is nearly 20 percent.