City's science festival starts next week

Front-line medics, vaccine developers and health experts will highlight the city’s annual science gala, set to be held from August 23 to 29.

The 2020 Shanghai Science Festival will focus on technology’s fight against the novel coronavirus pandemic. In total, there will be over 1,800 activities offered across the city during the weeklong event.

Besides eminent scientists, anti-virus luminaries such as doctors Zhong Ming and Zhang Wenhong will walk the red carpet during the event’s opening ceremony at the Shanghai Exhibition Center.

Zhong, an expert in intensive care at Zhongshan Hospital, was the first Shanghai doctor who rushed to Wuhan, the former epicenter of the epidemic, to fight coronavirus. Zhang, an infectious disease expert from Huashan Hospital, is the head of Shanghai’s expert coronavirus treatment team.

Activities explaining cutting-edge technologies against the pandemic will be held to popularize medical knowledge and raise public health awareness.

More than 300 museums and science education venues will offer free admission or ticket discounts, such as Shanghai Insect Museum and Shanghai Changfeng Ocean World Science Museum.

More than 60 labs, research institutes and innovation centers such as the Shanghai Key Laboratory of Endocrine Oncology, Shanghai Society of Refrigeration and Shanghai Psychological Society will open their doors to the public or hold online activities.

The city’s young and promising scientists will share their latest discoveries with the public, such as polar expedition stories from the Polar Research Institute of China and pioneering research on the brain by the Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

In the post-pandemic era, more online activities will be held this year. Using live broadcasts, guests, science experts and science venue staff will provide live broadcasts of science interviews, science book recommendations and experiments.