Abstract: National awards are of the highest value in S&T field in China, and the honor and position of youth S&T talents in national award system attract great concern from both the public and the S&T management authorities. Based on the study of age distribution of awardees in 2009-2013 and through an in-depth comparison of Nobel Prize recipients, we found that although the overall proportion of youth talents in national S&T awardees are reasonable, there is still lack of special concern on them and thus the current national award system fails to be the ideal incentive structure. Consequently, the importance and necessity of a national award for youth S&T talents is needed and should be taken into consideration.

Key words: science and technology award, young talents, Nobel Prize, testimonial period of achievements, golden age of achievements