An exceptional congregation of over one hundred luminaries hailing from 25 countries and regions, among them 27 illustrious Nobel laureates, gathered with a shared purpose: to delve into profound discourse encompassing diverse domains such as life science, artificial intelligence, and the relentless battle against climate change. This is reported by
China Daily, a partner of TV BRICS.

Aptly themed “science leads transformation,” this influential gathering is gracefully co-hosted by the eminent entities, the World Laureates Association and the China Association of Science and Technology. In his captivating opening address, Wan Gang, the chairman of the China Association of Science and Technology, underscored the remarkable evolution of WLA as a pivotal platform facilitating the exchange of trailblazing technologies among brilliant minds.

The WLA Forum was initiated in 2018 and is embedded in Shanghai’s 14th Five-Year Plan to promote scientific and technological innovation in China. In his speech, Wang highlighted the city’s active efforts in building an international innovation and technology hub, encouraging new scientific discoveries and developing a science and innovation ecosystem.

Roger Kornberg, the chairman of the WLA and a Nobel laureate in chemistry in 2006, characterized the WLA as a diverse international organization comprising over 180 recipients of prestigious science awards, including 70 Nobel laureates from various fields. He revealed intentions to establish WLA’s own research laboratories, thereby aiding the independent studies of 1,000 young scientists.

At the forum’s opening ceremony, medals and certificates were presented to the five winners of the 2023 WLA Prize in computer science, maths, natural sciences and medicine.

The prize committee noted that convex optimisation theory, whose work earned the prize, has had a huge impact not only in mathematics but also beyond. It has found applications in control systems, economics, signal processing, machine learning, resource allocation, energy management, supply chain management and finance. The WLA Prize aims to recognise outstanding researchers and to stimulate the intellectual integration of interdisciplinary problems in applied mathematics.

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