Beijing, Jan 24 (IANS): Three scientists from India, Germany and Russia won the 2012 Award for International Scientific Cooperation at the China's top science academy Wednesday, Xinhua reported.

Indian professor C.N.R. Rao from Jawaharlal Nehru University, Herbert Jaeckle from Germany's Max Planck Society and Russian space physicist G.A. Zherebtsov shared the award for 2012, launched by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) in 2007 to honour foreign scientists for their contributions in Sino-foreign research cooperation.

Rao is devoted to the research of solid-state and structural chemistry. He has been awarded for his important contributions in boosting scientific cooperation between China and India, as well as raising the scientific capabilities of developing countries, the Chinese Academy of Sciences said in a statement.

Jaeckle is a world-famous scientist in the fields of molecular developmental biology. Zherebtsov actively promoted the construction of a Sino-Russian weather research centre and is currently working to get Russia involved in a CAS space science programme, the CAS said.

Founded in Beijing in 1949, the CAS is China's top academic and research institution for natural sciences.