Nobel laureate Gerard Mourou to work on extreme light in China

"I'm going to work on extreme light for medical and energy fields," Nobel laureate Gerard Mourou said on Friday, discussing his plans for work in China.

The French physicist, who joined Peking University's School of Physics as chair professor last month, made the remarks on the sidelines of this year's Beijing Forum, which runs from November 1 to 3, a global academic forum focused on innovation and human progress.

At the opening ceremony of the annual forum, he outlined the applications of ultra-high-intensity lasers in areas such as medicine and nuclear energy.

In 2018, Mourou shared the Nobel Prize in Physics with Arthur Ashkin and Donna Strickland "for groundbreaking inventions in the field of laser physics."

He is expected to assist in establishing a new institute for scientific research and international cooperation in the fields of laser physics, particle physics, nuclear physics, medical physics and astrophysics, according to a statement from Peking University.

As China invests heavily in developing science and education, talent is arriving from around the world at an increasing pace. Fields Medal winner Caucher Birkar has been teaching mathematics full-time at Tsinghua University since 2021. Structural biologist Yan Nieng returned to China from Princeton University in 2022 to found a medical academy in Shenzhen. Yan also delivered a keynote speech at this year's Beijing Forum.

About a week after Mourou joined Peking University, a symposium celebrating the 50th anniversary of the discovery of the J particle brought several notable individuals to China: Nobel laureates Samuel Chao Chung Ting, Sheldon Glashow and David Gross, as well as Luciano Maiani, former director-general of the European Organization for Nuclear Research.

"Achievements of the Chinese efforts are truly remarkable," Gross told the media, explaining why the event was taking place in China despite the fact that the J particle was not discovered there.

Though the initial discovery was made elsewhere, all 30 newly identified members of the J particle family were found at the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of High Energy Physics, Ting said.

Mourou praised China for its scientific and technological advancements over the past decades. "I knew some of the scientists," he said, "and they are interested in what I'm doing."

He joked that those scientists had been "smart enough" to convince him to join the university and start a new institute for ultra-high-intensity lasers.

Mourou expressed his admiration for Chinese students, noting that they excel in innovation – not just in their coursework, as is often the stereotype.

More than 500 scholars and experts from over 30 countries and regions are participating in the 2024 Beijing Forum. Topics include sustainable development, the environment and health, and digitalization and artificial intelligence.

"The best is yet to come," Mourou said regarding the future applications of his research.