Zhuang Xiaoying (1st L) from Tongji University of China, winner of the Sofja Kovalevskaja Award, takes part in an award ceremony in Berlin Nov. 17, 2015. Dr. Zhuang Xiaoying, a young researcher from Shanghai, is one of this year's winners of the Sofja Kovalevskaja Award, one of Germany's most valuable research prizes. The award is funded by the Federal Research Ministry of Germany, which grants each winner up to 1.65 million euros (US$1.84 million). With the funding, winners can spend up to five years conducting research at German universities and research institutions, establishing their own working groups at their host institutes. Zhuang will use the funding at Institute of Continuum Mechanics, Leibniz University Hannover, to do research on polymer-matrix composites (PMCs). (Xinhua/Zhang Fan)