Vietnamese-American astrophysicist Trinh Xuan Thuan is to be granted the Cino Del Duca World Prize, the French Institute announced.

Besides conducting research, Prof Thuan has also authored a large number of books, spreading scientific knowledge to the wider public, with the precise view of a humane scientist who always believes in the human position in the universe, it said.

His works are written in a fine, poetic and philosophic French and are highly appraised worldwide.

The EUR300,000 cash prize will be presented to him at the French Academy on June 6.

Born in Hanoi in 1948, Prof. Thuan teaches at the University of Virginia, the US.

Cino Del Duca World Prize is an international literary award named after Cino Del Duca, an Italian-born businessman, film producer and philanthropist who moved to France in 1923 and later made a fortune in the publishing business.

The Prize is designed to recognise and reward an author whose work constitutes a message of modern humanism./.