Lingang, Shanghai to build a valley for top scientists

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A scientific community tailor made for the world's smartest minds – winners of Nobel Prizes, Wolf Prizes, Lasker Awards, Turing Awards, etc. – will be built in Shanghai's newly-developed Lingang area.

The announcement came today at the opening ceremony of a three-day World Laureates Forum, hosted by the Shanghai municipal government and co-organized by several parties including the Shanghai Lingang Area Administration Committee, and the World Laureates Association, a private institution established in 2017 with a mission to introduce the research achievements of world's top scientists to China.

More than 70 scientists, including 26 Nobel Laureates and a dozen other top science awards winners attended the event.

A panel discussion on photon science and industry on the first day of the World Laureates Forum. /Photo by Yang Pudong from Shanghai Science and Technology

The forum is themed "science and technology for the common destiny of mankind" and featured discussions across physical and life sciences, their applications in various areas, as well as a special young scientists forum aimed at facilitating exchanges between young Chinese scientists and the laureates.

Roger Kornberg, the 2006 Nobel Chemistry laureate, also Chairman of World Laureates Association (WLA), illustrated the importance of scientific funding via the example of the external grants program by the US National Institute of Health, which led to the emergence of the biotech industry, and said the WLA is now doing the same with a focus on worldwide young scientists and with the support of China.

Kornberg added that the WLA would establish a presence in Lingang to facilitate cooperation between leading scientists, and local universities and enterprises in Shanghai.

The WLA scientific community is planned to comprise working space, communication center, and laboratories for the top scientists, as well as a "technology bank" that will fund the transfer of scientific discoveries into productivity.

Shanghai mayor Ying Yong speaking at the opening ceremony of the World Laureates Forum. /CGTN Photo

The World Laureates Forum, held for the first time this year, is believed to aid Shanghai's ambition to become a technology and innovation center with international influence.

(Top photo: Roger Kornberg, Chairman of World Laureates Association delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the World Laureates Forum. /Photo by Yang Pudong from Shanghai Science and Technology.)