On October 24, the American Physical Society announced that Qikun Xue, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, President of Beijing Academy of Quantum Information Sciences (BAQIS), and Professor at Tsinghua University, has been awarded this year's Oliver E. Buckley Condensed Matter Physics Prize.  Since the award was first granted in 1953, this is the first time the prize has been awarded to a physicist of Chinese nationality.

Xue and Harvard University Professor Ashvin Vishwanath were awarded for their "groundbreaking theoretical and experimental studies on the collective electronic properties of materials that reflect topological aspects of their band structure." Xue's primary achievements include experimental research on topological insulators and the innovative breakthrough of experimentally discovering the quantum anomalous Hall effect in a magnetic topological insulator.  He has become the first recipient of Chinese nationality in the 70-year history of the prize.

Since 2008, the research team led by Xue has made a series of significant advancements in the experimental research of topological insulators.  The quantum anomalous Hall effect is one of the major scientific goals in this field.  By the end of 2012, his team had experimentally discovered the quantum anomalous Hall effect for the first time.  This achievement was published in the journal Science in March 2013.  This is an important physical effect that Chinese scientists independently observed in the experiment and is a significant scientific discovery of fundamental research worldwide.

Buckley Prize is recognized as the highest award in condensed matter physics, designed to honor scientists who have made outstanding theoretical or experimental contributions in this field.  The prize was established in 1952 by the American AT&T Bell Laboratories in honor of their influential chairman, Oliver E. Buckley.  The selection criteria emphasize that the contributions must be the most significant in the field of condensed matter physics.  Since 1953, this prize has been awarded annually, and 18 past Buckley Prize recipients have subsequently been awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics over the past 70 years.