Shanghai gets a Nobel touch with WLA Forum
Scientists attend the opening ceremony of the forum.
One exciting news of this year's World Laureates Forum, or WLA Forum, is that it has attracted the biggest turnout of top overseas science award winners to offline meetings since the COVID-19 pandemic swept the world in 2020.
Into its fifth year, the Shanghai-based world-class science gathering features 60 top science prize winners, including 27 Nobel laureates. A fact that astonished American biochemist James Rothman, the 2013 Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine.
"I think I heard there were something like 20 Nobel Prize winners out here at this conference and that's with still ongoing resections, right," Rothman underlined the number in a rhetorical question during an interview with Shanghai Daily.
He added, "Actually, you know, there's more Nobel Prize winners here with restrictions then they are, for example, found in Stockholm in December when the prizes are awarded. In fact, in other years, there have been far more Nobel Prize winners here than there ever been in Stockholm and Stockholm is where the factory is."
It's true. Shanghai is getting a Nobel touch.
The lingering pandemic has forced the Nobel Prize organizers to cancel its traditional December banquet for consecutive two years in 2020 and 2021. And the award ceremonies were held online. But about 7,800 kilometers away in Shanghai, the WLA Forum has been going great guns.
Michael Levitt, winner of the 2013 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, thinks across the world there's no science gathering that can compare to the WLA Forum which has garnered a groundswell of support from hundreds of winners of the Wolf Prize, Lasker Award, Turning Award, MacArthur Fellowship and other leading science prizes.
Take the number of participating Nobel laureates, for example. The forum drew 26 such winners during the first year of the forum in 2018. But the number soared to 44 in 2019, 61 in 2020 and 68 in 2021. Those present included Harvey Alter, Andrea Ghez, Reinhard Genzel, Tasuku Honjo, Donna Strickland, Carol Greider – just to name a few.
Notably, over the five years, the World Laureates Association, a prime mover behind the WLA Forum, has gathered 162 members from 80 top laboratories and institutes from over 25 countries, including 68 Nobel laureates.
And the association itself consists of Nobel laureates, with the chairman being American biochemist Roger Kornberg, and vice chairmen being American cell biologist Randy Schekman, Levitt of South Africa, and Steven Chu, a physicist from the United States.
The permanent venue of the WLA Forum was unveiled in Shanghai's Lingang Special Area on November 4.
In an earlier interview with Shanghai Daily, Kornberg admitted that the first forum was an experiment but the second forum really gave evidence of success.
"It could have ended after the first forum but instead it has grown larger and more important and has stronger connections with the local government and with the world scientific community," he said.
So, what's the secret to the forum's success? The missions of the WLA Forum have been well implemented in Shanghai, which advocates basic science, support for young scientists and international cooperation.
"What brings the international scientists here are the central purposes of support for junior scientists worldwide and the emphasis on fundamental science, not applied science," Kornberg noted.
Basic research breeds core technological breakthroughs.
Wang Zhigang, minister of science and technology, said during last year's national legislative session that China will invest more in basic research during the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) period, with plans to increase such funding to over 8 percent of all research and development expenditure. It was about 6 percent in 2020.
Always a pioneer, Shanghai is well on its way to build a solid basic research system with the aim of turning the city into a more influential global innovation hub. From 2018 to 2020, the government funding on basic research climbed from 7.8 percent to 10 percent, and it is expected to reach 12 percent by 2025.
Innovation and openness, which are encoded in the city's DNA, also matter. As Levitt has said, the forum shows China's open mind to the world.
During this year's forum, the Shanghai Initiative for Future Science and Technology Development in the Asia Pacific Region was issued in a call for a more open community with a shared future in the region. While at the ongoing 5th China International Import Expo, which is synchronously held in Shanghai, the World Openness Report 2022 was released so as to build a global consensus on openness and enhance the well-being of all people on earth.
Openness and science are overly common practices, Kornberg said, "Science is entirely public. It is necessary and it is the only way that science can move in a rapid and reliable manner."
He added that Shanghai's international vibe has created fertile land for international cooperation and provided excellent conditions for scientific research.
By the end of 2021, Shanghai had gathered 516 R&D centers of foreign companies and five representative offices of international science and technology organizations. About one third of the foreign talent with permanent residence opted to live and work in Shanghai.
The WLA Prize winners pose with their awards.
On the other hand, the forum and Shanghai have thrived off each other.
According to Rothman, the forum has put a huge spotlight on the city of Shanghai.
"It sends a message, which is an appropriate one, that this is a city that aspires to greatness and science," he pointed out. "It already has considerable achievements and there's more to come. And that spotlight could only promote the development of good science, which is a benefit for all of us."
Last year, Shanghai ranked eighth among the top 100 innovation clusters across the world, 11 places up from 2017, and this year by merging with Suzhou, the Shanghai-Suzhou cluster ranks sixth, according to the innovation index issued by the World Intellectual Property Organization.
Kornberg believes one of the many beneficiaries of the annual Shanghai forum are the people of Shanghai.
"By that I mean especially the students, the young people who pursue careers or even contemplate pursuing careers in science. We bring them closer to the world laureates, the most distinguished scientists in the world. It's a rare opportunity for the young people to interact closely, sometimes even in person, with such exceptional scientists," he observed.
The American stressed that the forum brings cutting-edge science to China every year and there's no better way of promoting innovation through such activities than to emphasize and practice science.
"I think the forum is the best way that you can, at the very beginning, create a suitable environment with purpose."
As one of the latest results, the permanent venue of the WLA Forum was unveiled last week in Shanghai's Lingang Special Area, together with an international R&D community. It is expected to attract top-notch scientists and foster budding scientists, as well as launch several joint labs by 2025.
Besides, during the opening ceremony of this year's forum, the WLA High School League, the WLA University Presidents Advisory and Collaborative Committee and the WLA Entrepreneurs Advisory and Collaborative Committee were established.
The WLA Laboratories program was also launched, with three Nobel laureates – Kornberg, Rothman and American chemist Barry Sharpless – being the first "cornerstone scientists." Also launched were the WLA Scientific Journal and the WLA Documentary Project "The Luminaries" that is planned to film the 100 top scientists and will be screened from 2023.
The highlight of last year's forum, the WLA Prize, also bore fruit. The two first winners, American professor Michael I Jordan and German biochemist Dirk Görlich, came to claim their prizes at the opening ceremony.
The prize is envisaged as becoming a local version of the Nobel Prize, and Kornberg is confident it will become a world-class scientific award with global influence. Just like the Noble Prize is for Sweden, the Turning Award for the US and the Fields Medal for Canada, the WLA Prize is expected to fill in the vacancy of a world-class science award for China.
