The Chancellor's Award for Outstanding Research and Creative Activity gives special recognition to MU faculty members who are still in the developmental phases of their careers, have made outstanding contributions in research and/or creative activity, and have great promise for achieving wider recognition. Thus, the selection committee will seek to identify individuals whose accomplishments are impressive and yet, as mid-career professionals who are rising in their fields, have not yet reached the senior level in their particular field of endeavor. Two awards are presented annually: (1) the behavioral and social sciences, and (2) the physical and mathematics sciences. Each award includes (1) presentation of an engraved plaque, (2) addition of the awardees name to a cumulative plaque, located near the Chancellor's office in Jesse Hall, (3) a $1,000 cash prize to each awardee, and (4) a $2,000 unrestricted fund for professional activities.
After receiving his PhD from Columbia University, Dr. Qin became a postdoctoral fellow at McMaster University before spending a year at the Institute for Advanced Study. He has won several awards and is an Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow. His research interests include algebraic geometry, vertex algebras, quantum cohomology and lower dimensional topology.