Five Chinese PhD students from the University of Tasmania are among 500 worldwide to be recognised by the Chinese government for outstanding academic achievement.

The students have each received the Chinese Government Award for Outstanding Self-Financed Students Abroad. The award has recognised outstanding academic achievement across different fields each year since 2003.

Three of the students are from the university's Menzies Institute for Medical Research, one from the Tasmanian School of Business and Economics and one from the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture. 

Student winners are selected by experts from the host country and China.

Mr Yumin Song, the Chinese Consul-General in Australia, presented the students with their awards at a ceremony in Melbourne. The students' primary PhD supervisors were also recognised.

The winning students from the University of Tasmania are:

• Feng Pan (Menzies Institute for Medical Research), who is researching the systemic factors in osteoarthritis. His primary supervisor is Professor Graeme Jones.
• Xia Wang (Menzies Institute for Medical Research), who is investigating the role of inflammation in knee osteoarthritis, especially targeting on its diagnostic and therapeutic value. Her primary supervisor is Professor Chang Hai Ding.
• Jing Tian (Menzies Institute for Medical Research), who is researching predictors and health effects of smoking transitions in young adults. Her primary supervisor is Professor Alison Venn.
• Honghong Wu (Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture), who has now completed his PhD in salinity stress tolerance in barley and wheat. His primary supervisor was Professor Sergey Shabala.
• Xuesong Bai (Tasmanian School of Business and Economics), who has now completed his PhD into the effect of product information cues on consumer purchasing.  His primary supervisor was Dr Fan Liang.

Contact: Miranda Harman

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