2026 World's Top Scientists Forum opens in Shanghai, focusing on scientific breakthroughs in the next decade

China News Service, Shanghai, October 31 (Li Shuzheng, Yang Haiyan, Zheng Yingying) The 2026 World's Top Scientists Forum held an opening ceremony in Lingang, Shanghai on the 31st. Scientists, educators and entrepreneurs from home and abroad discussed cutting-edge scientific development and international scientific and technological cooperation around the theme of "Paradigm Change: The Next Decade of Scientific Breakthroughs".

This forum will be held from October 30 to November 1. It will set up six parallel forums on future semiconductors, biomedicine, aerospace information, artificial intelligence, future energy, and quantum science, and organize themed activities such as exchanges of young scientists and female scientific leadership.

Artificial intelligence accelerates scientific discovery, and how scientists work together to respond to changes became the focus of the opening ceremony. Du Ningkai, president and CEO of the New York Academy of Sciences, said that the new paradigm of science not only means new tools and new discoveries, but also changes in the way of cooperation. The key to the next decade will not only be what humans will discover, but also whether we can work together to explore. He called on the scientific community to remain open, share knowledge and strengthen exchanges on the basis of trust, and jointly address challenges such as artificial intelligence governance, climate change, and energy.

The 2026 World Top Scientist Award Ceremony was held at the opening ceremony. Ingrid Dobesi of Duke University received the "Intelligence Science or Mathematics Award" in recognition of her outstanding contributions in the fields of applied harmonic analysis, wavelet theory and image compression, as well as her leadership role in the international mathematical community.

The "Life Science or Medicine Award" was jointly won by Yuan Junying, Wang Xiaodong, Shao Feng and Vishwa Dixit. Their research has clarified the molecular pathways of multiple types of programmed cell death, providing an important basis for understanding related physiological functions and disease mechanisms.

The "Young Scientist Award" established for the first time this year was awarded to six young scholars: Raphael Juliette Clément, Chen Peining, Ding Shiqian, Wu Jiajun, Xie Weidi and Zhuang Ziquan.

Michael Levitt, winner of the 2013 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, said in his concluding remarks that from wavelet theory to cell death mechanisms, many studies begin with scientists’ curiosity about basic issues, and practical applications may gradually emerge decades later. Artificial intelligence is allowing researchers to test ideas faster, and asking high-quality scientific questions is increasingly important. He encouraged young scientific researchers to seize the opportunity to communicate with their seniors, be brave enough to ask questions, and continue to explore through trials and failures.