The medal was established by the UNESCO General Director in 2010 and is awarded annually to outstanding scientists and organizations who have made significant contributions to the progress of world science in these areas. So, in particular, the Kazakhstan scientist was awarded "for his contribution to the development of technologies for the production of nanocarbon materials, the synthesis of carbon nanotubes and graphenes in the combustion mode."
In his reply, after awarding the award, Z. Mansurov thanked UNESCO for the high appreciation of his research and stressed that “the achievements of Kazakhstan science are largely related to the fact that today our scientists, and especially young people, have all the opportunities for close cooperation with leading research centers of the world ”, adding that considerable merit in this belongs to the systemic reforms in the country, initiated by the Head of our state.
This year, the awards were also awarded to nine colleagues of Z. Mansurov, representing such countries as Russia, France, Australia, Finland, Austria, Greece, Egypt, and the USA. Among the spheres of practical application of their scientific developments are electronics, telecommunications, mechanical engineering, instrument making, medicine, materials science, and many others.
Among those awarded this prestigious medal earlier are the Nobel Prize in Physics, Isamu Akasaki and Zhores Alferov, President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences Chunli Bai.