China revokes technology prize, alleging fraud

Science : For the first time, the Chinese government has revoked a major technology award because the prize-winning work turned out to be fraudulent, writes Hao Xin for Science. China’s National Office for Science and Technology Awards announced this month that investigations have confirmed allegations of fraud in an award-winning project that won second prize in a 2005 competition. The project’s applicants, under the leadership of Li Liansheng, formerly of Xi’an Jiaotong University, claimed to have developed key technologies for a type of compressor used in air conditioning units. The government has withdrawn the award certificates for this work and demanded the return of the prize money, roughly $12 000. Bloggers on a popular science site, ScienceNet.cn , are hailing the decision as a signal that the government is getting serious about cracking down on academic misconduct in China.