Successful Conclusion of Future Science Prize Week 2021
BEIJING, Dec. 1, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Future Science Prize Week 2021 has successfully concluded. Due to the pandemic, the six-day Prize Week was held mainly online. Activities included Future Science and Art Exhibition, The Public Lectures of Future Science Prize, Science Symposium, and Dialogue: Future Science Prize Laureates with K12 Students. During the week, nearly 100 top scientists from around the world interacted online, discussing academic frontiers and sharing a feast of science.
The Future Science Prize Week 2021 invited renowned experts from home and abroad to form the Steering Committee and the Program Committee to determine the program, plan the content, set the agenda, and invite VIP guests from around the world to ensure that the high quality of academic content and extensive international influence of the conference remain consistent. This year, the Program Committee was co-chaired by Jianshu Li of Zhejiang University and Liqun Luo of Stanford University.
Top scientists from 30+ research institutes around the world who attended the Science Symposium shared cutting-edge scientific achievements and discussed academic innovations in six disciplines, including life sciences, physics, chemistry, astronomy, mathematics and computers, focusing on 15 sub-disciplines such as stem cells and regenerative medicine, RNA biology, functional brain imaging and intervention, artificial regulation of quantum, quantum materials, chemistry and materials, organic synthetic molecules, origin of the universe, habitable planet, deep space exploration, algebraic geometry, number theory, geometric topology, artificial intelligence and life sciences, and chips.
The three public lectures by the laureates of the 2021 Future Science Prize were held at the University of Hong Kong, Shanghai Jiao Tong University and online. The laureate of the Physical Science Prize, Professor Jie Zhang, said that "winning the Physical Science Prize 2021 is a significant achievement, which means that his team’s 20-year efforts have been recognized by society!"
In the event "Science Inspires Youth – Dialogue: Future Science Prize Laureates with K12 Students ", Prof. Jie Zhang held online and onsite conversations with student representatives from Shanghai, Yunnan and Hunan, telling them about his childhood and research, as well as answering questions from curious students.
Prof. Kwok-Yung Yuen and Prof. Joseph Sriyal Malik Peiris won the Prize in life sciences for their discoveries of SARS-CoV-1 as the causative agent for the global SARS outbreak in 2003 and its zoonotic origin, with impact on combating Covid-19 and emerging infectious diseases. Prof. Jie Zhang won the Future Science Prize in physical sciences for his development of laser-based fast electron beam technologies and their applications in ultrafast time-resolved electron microscopy and fast ignition for research towards inertial confinement fusion. Prof. Simon Sze won the prize in mathematics and computer science, for his contributions to understanding carrier transports at the interface between metal and semiconductor, enabling Ohmic and Schottky-contact formations for scaling integrated circuits at the "Moore’s law" rate during the past five decades.
This year, Future Science Prize Award Ceremony set up a branch venue in Hong Kong for the first time. This event in parallel with the 2021 Future Science Prize Award Ceremony in Beijing. The two venue was connected through live streaming. Mau-Chung Frank Chang, the rotating chairman of the Science Committee of the Future Science Prize 2021, said in his speech that "the curiosity of exploring the mysteries of nature and the satisfaction of solving the unknown are the greatest motivations for scientific exploration. We hope to support scientists to continue to climb the peak of research and development, explore the unknown and create the future!"
Future Forum 2021 rotating chairman Ying Wu mentioned in his speech that "only science is the core driving force for global development, and we will work together to safeguard this common cause and move steadily forward into the next 100 years."
Victor Wang, chairman of the Future Science Prize 2021 Donors’ Congress, announced that the full commitment had been fulfilled and the endowment fund had been officially launched. The fund will be fully responsible for all expenses of the Prize in 2025, the 10th anniversary of the Prize.
It is worth mentioning that the number of Future Science Prize donors increased from 12 to 14, with Richard Liu, Founding Partner of 5Y Capital, and David Yu, Co-Founder and Chairman of Yunfeng Capital, Chairman and Non-Executive Director of Yunfeng Financial Group, and Board Member of Fudan University, joining the ranks of donors as new members.
At the closing ceremony of Future Science Prize Week 2021, Cathy Wu, the initiator and secretary-general of Future Forum, expressed her hope that the Future Science Prize Week series of events would inspire the spirit of science, honor scientists, celebrate and share scientific achievements, and influence China, the world and the next generation with the spirit of science. (Future Science Prize www.futureprize.org)
