World Laureates Forum gathers over 130 award-winning science leaders, Nobel laureates in Shanghai

The fourth World Laureates Forum kicked off on Monday, in the Chinese city of Shanghai, gathering more than 130 decorated scientists, including 68 Nobel Prize winners, to attend the three-day forum.

Focusing on the theme, “Open science: build an open innovation ecosystem,’’ this year’s forum will host nearly 100 conferences and activities in 14 sections, covering a number of basic disciplines such as chemistry, physics, life science and mathematics.

Michael Levitt, 2013 Nobel laureate in chemistry and vice chairman of the World Laureates Association (WLA), published the initiative with the same title as that of the forum at the opening ceremony.

This advocated open science and encouraged actions in support of open science.

The organisers also announced the establishment of the WLA Prize, which would be officially launched in 2022, with two individual awards each attracting a 10-million-yuan reward (about 1.56 million U.S. dollars).

The WLA Prize would focus on supporting original basic research and encouraging scientists to better participate in and serve the common well-being of all humankind, according to Roger Kornberg, WLA chairman and 2006 Nobel Prize laureate in chemistry.

Co-organised by the WLA and the China Association for Science and Technology, the forum aims to build a platform for high-level dialogue in the international scientific community.