A top international academic event on basic science opened in Beijing on Sunday, bringing together some of the world's leading mathematicians, physicists and computer scientists.

With the theme of "advancing science for humanity," the 2024 International Congress of Basic Science (ICBS) kicked off at Tsinghua University.

Running until July 26, over 800 experts from across the world will discuss issues across mathematics, theoretical physics, and theoretical computer and information sciences, with the aim of sharing cutting-edge achievements and visions of future research directions.

Winners of internationally renowned scientific awards, more than 70 academicians from various countries and more than 10 presidents of domestic universities were invited to attend. More than 300 people attended the opening ceremony, including representatives of many international academic organizations and experts from domestic universities and institutions.

The event also presented the life award and the frontier science award to recognize scientists who have made outstanding contributions to the field of basic science.

Six recipients of the 2024 Basic Science Lifetime Award will deliver six lectures on topics related to their specific fields, with three on Monday and three on Tuesday. 

Andrew John Wiles and Richard Streit Hamilton are recipients of the 2024 Basic Science Lifetime Award in Mathematics. 

Born in 1953, British mathematician Wiles is a towering figure in the world of mathematics, celebrated for his monumental proof of Fermat's Last Theorem in 1995. Wiles's contributions have been recognized with a plethora of awards and honors throughout his career. His legacy is not merely in solving Fermat's Last Theorem, but also in inspiring others to pursue their curiosity with equal fervor.

Hamilton is an American mathematician, renowned for his groundbreaking contributions to geometric analysis and partial differential equations. Born in 1943, Hamilton is most celebrated for his discovery of the Ricci flow and his pioneering efforts in developing a comprehensive program of techniques and ideas aimed at resolving long-standing conjectures in geometric topology.

Andrew Chi-Chih Yao and Leslie Gabriel Valiant won the 2024 Basic Science Lifetime Award in Theoretical Computer and Information Sciences.

Born in 1946, in Shanghai, China, Yao is a leading figure in computer science, known for groundbreaking work that has deeply influenced theoretical computer science.

Over his career, Yao has made many remarkable contributions to computer science, including complexity theory, cryptography, quantum computing and communication complexity. His introduction of Yao's Principle, also known as the Minimax Lemma, has been a cornerstone in information sciences. It is crucial for analyzing algorithmic efficiency, which is fundamental in computational complexity theory. In 2000, Yao won the Turing Award, a top prize in the computing world. 

Valiant is a distinguished computer scientist and computational theorist. Born in 1949, Valiant has achieved global recognition for his groundbreaking work in theoretical computer science. 

He revolutionized the field of machine learning by developing the Probably Approximately Correct (PAC) model, laying the foundation for computational learning theory. Valiant was honored with the Turing Award in 2010.

Edward Witten and Alexei Kitaev are winners of the 2024 Basic Science Lifetime Award in Theoretical Physics.

Born in 1951, American physicist Witten is a key figure in theoretical physics, particularly known for his pivotal contributions to string theory and quantum field theory. 

His insights have led to the discovery of new connections between physics and geometry, contributing to the development of topological quantum field theory and earning him the Fields Medal in 1990, making him the first physicist to receive this highest honor in mathematics.

Born in 1963 in Russia, Kitaev is a prominent physicist renowned for his groundbreaking contributions to the fields of quantum computing and condensed matter physics.

Kitaev's work has been pivotal in bridging the realms of theoretical physics and practical computation, laying the groundwork for the development of topological quantum computers. He was awarded the Fundamental Physics Prize in 2012 for his revolutionary proposals regarding topological quantum computation.