BEIJING -- Three foreign scientists from Singapore, Norway and Japan respectively were awarded medals of honor by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) in Beijing Thursday, for their contribution to facilitating international cooperation in science and technology.

CAS President Bai Chunli conferred the Academy's Award for International Scientific Cooperation on Singaporean physics expert Shih Choon Fong, Norwegian biologist Nils Christian Stenseth and Japanese meteorologist Toshio Koike.

Shih is a renowned educator, a fracture mechanics expert and a former president of the National University of Singapore. He uses his international influence to encourage collaboration that enables outstanding students from the University of CAS to study in the world's leading universities such as MIT and Oxford.

He has vigorously championed a CAS-led Liquid Sunshine International Coalition to offer green energy solutions.

Stenseth is a biologist from the University of Oslo. He has cooperated with CAS for more than 20 years. His work has enabled CAS to reach the frontier in the field of biological disaster prevention and control, and enhanced the institute's monitoring of biological disasters.

"Through this collaboration we have also contributed profoundly, I am convinced, to an increased friendship between China and Norway, as well as Europe and North America," Stenseth said.

Toshio Koike, professor of the University of Tokyo, is a world-famous hydro meteorologist. He and CAS worked on a number of Sino-Japanese joint observation projects on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, providing CAS with funding, technology and equipment, as well as valuable long-term observation data.

Koike has also made outstanding contributions to the training of researchers and the development of the CAS Qinghai-Tibet Plateau program.

Launched in 2007, the CAS award has been given to 34 foreign scientists. Many of the winners also received China's national award for international cooperation in science and technology.