On the morning of October 25, the Opening Ceremony of the 2025 World Laureates Forum (WLF) and the Award Ceremony of the 2025 World Laureates Association (WLA) Prize were grandly held at the Lingang Center in Shanghai. The event brought together around 150 scientists from over ten countries, including four Nobel Laureates, four Turing Award Laureates, 16 Academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering, and more than one hundred young scientists from China and abroad.
Shanghai Party Chief Chen Jining attended and delivered a speech.
Chen Jining, Secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China; Wang Jinzhang, Member of the Leading Party Members’ Group and Executive Secretary of the Secretariat of the China Association for Science and Technology; and K. Barry Sharpless, Laureate of the 2001 and 2022 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, attended the ceremony and delivered speeches. Chen Zhu, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, attended the event and presented the 2025 WLA Prize in Computer Science or Mathematics and the WLA Prize in Life Science or Medicine to this year’s laureates.Shanghai municipal leaders Gong Zheng, Zhang Wei, Chen Jinshan, Hua Yuan, and Chen Jie were also in attendance.
Chen Jining emphasized in his speech that Shanghai will thoroughly implement the guiding principles of the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee and the important instructions of President Xi Jinping. He stated that the city will focus on basic science, open innovation, and nurturing scientific talent; and continuing to strengthen fundamental research, deepen international cooperation, and foster fertile ground for innovation. He added that Shanghai will enhance the deployment of frontier technologies, support young scientists in taking on major responsibilities, and build an open and inclusive innovation ecosystem. Working hand in hand with scientists around the world to tackle humanity’s greatest scientific challenges.
The Award Ceremony became the highlight of the opening session.The 2025 WLA Prize in Computer Science or Mathematics was presented to Professor Richard Schoen, Laureate of the World Laureates Association Prize and Professor Emeritus at the School of Humanities and Sciences, Stanford University,in recognition of his pioneering contributions in geometric analysis and differential geometry.
In his acceptance speech, Professor Schoen expressed deep gratitude and said, “It is a great honor to be chosen as a laureate. The past recipients have all achieved remarkable accomplishments, and I am truly proud to join this distinguished group.” He also extended heartfelt thanks to the mentors and colleagues who have profoundly influenced his academic journey.
The 2025 WLA Prize in Life Science or Medicine was jointly awarded to Scott D. Emr, Professor Emeritus of Molecular Biology and Genetics at Cornell University, and Wesley I. Sundquist, Distinguished Professor and Chair of the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Utah.
Professor Emr stated in his remark, “I feel fortunate to be a scientist, free to pursue truth guided by curiosity and intuition.” He expressed sincere appreciation to the WLA Prize for honoring the importance of basic research and for its unwavering commitment to inspiring the next generation of scientists.
With the theme “Science in Future: Shanghai and the World,” this year’s Forum features a Main Forum and multiple Sub-forums, aiming to bring together cutting-edge global scientific insights and provide innovative scientific solutions for fostering new quality productive forces and addressing shared challenges of humanity.
Source: Shanghai Release
