The Fourth World Top Scientists Forum | scientists have wonderful inspirations and should share them with the world

Highlights of the opening ceremony of the 4th World Top Scientists Forum

Yesterday, the World's Top Scientists Forum was held in Shanghai for the fourth consecutive year. This year's theme boils down to one word: openness. The sun is still shining on the shore of Dishui Lake, but the whole world has been closed by the epidemic for too long. Michael Levitt, vice president of the World's Leading Scientists Association and winner of the 2013 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, said he was counting the days and days, and so far, according to his calculations, the world has been blocked for more than 620 days.

Openness is a trait engraved in the human dna and has repeatedly proven to be the best solution to the challenges of globalization. For Shanghai, which believes in openness and forges it into one of its urban characters, how to better understand and promote openness and how to build an open and inclusive innovation ecology will have an important impact on comprehensively enhancing the soft power of the city.

The reporter sorted out some of the content from the wonderful speech of the keynote speech of the opening ceremony of the Fourth World Top Scientists Forum held yesterday, which can be said to be an "open guide" provided by the "strongest brains" for the world, including Shanghai.

What is openness? How to open? More sharing, more inclusion

For the scientific community, the background of the epidemic has made the value of openness extremely prominent. The closure caused by the epidemic not only reflects the preciousness of opening up, but also directly provides a scene for highlighting the value of openness.

As Levitte wrote in an "Open Science Initiative" released yesterday at the Congress: The experience of global epidemic prevention and control shows that science has the ability to solve many of the pressing problems facing the world – through the efforts of the world, we have analyzed the causes of the epidemic, found control methods and developed vaccines in a very short period of time, and the spirit of openness is most evident in the race to prevent the spread of the epidemic.

What is openness? How to open? This is the topic that the world's top scientists focused on yesterday.

Wan Gang, chairman of the China Association for Science and Technology, said that cross-border coordination and integrated development of science and technology and industry are an inevitable trend. Since the 21st century, under the impetus of information technology, multidisciplinary cross-integration has spawned a large number of emerging disciplines and cutting-edge technologies. Today, artificial intelligence has also entered a new stage of cross-border integration, and the future will have a huge impact on economic and social development.

Roger Kornberg, president of the World Association of Top Scientists and winner of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, said that openness has two meanings: one is to open up the results that have been owned, including ideas, so that the collision of ideas can spark; the other is to create enough inclusiveness, so that more people, especially young scientists, can get the opportunity to take the stage.

Yang Wei, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and former director of the National Natural Science Foundation of China and president of Zhejiang University, also believes that open science should strive in two aspects, the first is to share results, and at the same time to allow cross-field, cross-generational scientists to engage in research together: "The former is related to communication, and the latter is mainly about creation." ”

In the view of John Hopecroft, winner of the 1986 Turing Prize, the seemingly inconspicuous "blackboard" of the greatest inventions in human history should have a place in total: "It is precisely because of the blackboard that the mode of education has changed, and a teacher has suddenly changed from a small class to a small class for thirty or forty students." What he emphasized was the great value of science communication.

Wang Zhonglin, a foreign academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and winner of the 2018 Eni Prize, said that scientists must have an open mind and a global vision in order to become leaders in the academic field and lead the team to create a new direction: "We only have one planet, it should be a planet that we can share; if scientists have wonderful inspiration, they should share this inspiration with the world." ”

Walking out of the lab of 28 Nobel laureates, what exactly did you do right?

Today's various technological advances have laid a solid foundation for creating a more perfect open innovation ecosystem. But at the same time, what open science needs is more than just technical support.

When it comes to tools, the internet doesn't budge. Cohenberg revealed that soon, Nature's annual blockbuster, 50 volumes of "Annual Review Compilation", will be fully launched on the Internet and added to the "open access" platform for people to consult online for free. He believes that "open access" will change the world in the future and have an exponential impact on science.

Hopcroft also said that today, scientists need to make good use of the Internet and social media to promote more effective science communication: "If we want leaders to be able to make decisions based on science, then let the public know about science."

In addition to sharing, Levitt also values protection, and the development of blockchain technology has created a new means of protection. Levitt said that many scientists devote themselves to basic research, not for the sake of fame, not for profit, but only to practice the purpose of "to be people first". Therefore, while sharing results with the help of online platforms, it is also necessary to give full play to the advantages of blockchain to confirm "who is the first person to find a certain item" and thus protect originality.

If technology is the catalyst for opening up, the spirit of science is the more important factor in order to truly implement openness. As a Nobel Laureate, Levitte is a master of science that people look up to in their hearts. But yesterday, in front of the audience, Levitt emotionally told one of his "heroes". He is one of the founders of the Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB) at the University of Cambridge, Max Perutz.

Levitt said the parsing of the double helix structure of DNA is Nature's most famous paper and has also won Nobel Prizes for James Watson and Francis Crick. But in fact, the hero behind this paper is Crick's teacher, Peruts. It is precisely because he generously gave up the signature and left the opportunity to young scientists, which not only made this famous paper have only two authors, but also established the LMB learning style. To date, LMB has produced 28 Nobel laureates. "What this lab is doing right is worth thinking about." Levitt said.

The spillover effect continues to amplify, and the top platform brews top influence in Shanghai

Through this year's Top Scientists Forum, many experts and scholars generally believe that the trend of open science is unstoppable. In this context, what opportunities are Facing China and Shanghai, and how will they make efforts in the future?

Kornberg's expression is very direct: "Shanghai's current scientific research conditions are top-notch and can achieve its mission very well. ”

Levitt recalled his exchange with a top Chinese scholar four years ago, when he said that in China, we must dare to dream, and only in this way can we make dreams have the opportunity to become reality.

The expectations of the scientific masters have witnessed the spillover effect of the top scientist forum in Shanghai for four years. In addition to holding the Dingke Forum regularly every year to build a top platform that connects global scientists and helps international high-end scientific dialogues, Shanghai also cooperates with the Association of Top Scientists to promote the landing of major projects such as the Dingke community in the Lingang New Area. These platforms help provide an open platform for young scientists to have more opportunities for independent research and breakthroughs in science.

It is worth mentioning that at yesterday's forum, the organizers also announced that they will set up a single prize of 10 million yuan to promote the development of basic research and cope with the common challenges facing mankind. It can be said that this is a new seed sown in Shanghai by the forum of top scientists and the spirit of open science.

"Shanghai will integrate global wisdom, gather talents from all over the world, increase investment in science and technology, and implement a more open, inclusive, mutually beneficial and shared international science and technology cooperation strategy, so that Shanghai will become an international science and technology innovation hub city with global innovation elements surging and innovation vitality bursting forth." Yesterday, relevant leaders said so in their speeches on behalf of Shanghai.

Cohenberg is confident about Shanghai's future role in open science: "I believe that through open and interactive exchanges, the relevant projects of the Association of Top Scientists will have a worldwide impact."

Author: Zhang Yi Xu Qimin

Edit: Jin Jiuchao