Inaugural Hong Kong Laureate Forum Date: 12-18 November 2023
The week-long Forum was a notable event, featuring three captivating plenary sessions, six insightful breakout sessions, two in-depth exchanges on global trends, two science seminars and over 20 diverse visits and cultural activities. One significant highlight was the four sessions of dialogues with Shaw Laureates at secondary schools simultaneously held in Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, New Territories East and West, which was first of its kind being organised in Hong Kong. During the Forum, the HKLF organised a "Hong Kong Laureate Forum – Media Visit" for non-local media attendees, offering them an opportunity to delve into the content of the Forum and the scientific advancements in Hong Kong, thus making this international scientific event known to audience in Hong Kong and beyond.
The Forum attracted over 2,400 participants, successfully bringing together 23 Shaw Laureates who have made outstanding contributions in the disciplines of Astronomy, Life Science and Medicine, and Mathematical Sciences, almost 200 young scientists and Forum Ambassadors from around 30 different countries and regions, more than 200 guests from various sectors and institutions and local scientists, plus over 1,500 secondary school students with passion about science as well as members of the public. This prestigious event helped to foster connections between participants, thereby building up cross-generational, cross-cultural and cross-disciplinary collaborations and unlocking endless possibilities in science!
The Forum covered a wide range of diverse topics, allowing participants to explore and discuss issues ranging from Astronomy's gravitational waves, black holes, space telescopes, Mathematical Sciences' moduli spaces, geometry, fractals, to Life Science and Medicine's genome, cells, optogenetics etc. The Forum also featured poster and flash presentations led by over 40 young scientists, who benefited from the opportunities to present their current research projects to the Shaw Laureates and received valuable feedback.
Throughout the Forum, feedback from participants has been overwhelmingly positive. Many participants consider the Forum a bridge to connect scientists of the current and next generations. They applauded the overall arrangement and expressed their desire to participate in the next Forum.
Shaw Laureates said:
"It is rare and remarkable to have scientists from different disciplines coming together, as international conferences tend to assemble people from related specialty."
"One of the ideas of the Forum, which gathers past laureates, young scientists, and students, is to bring cutting-edge science and technology to a wider audience. Exposing them to bright ideas and applications that engender human life and experiences is a very critical and important initiative."
Young scientists said:
"Through the participation in the Forum, we were inspired by the Shaw Laureates from various disciplines and different parts of the world. We found the Shaw Laureates' insights and advice on the research journey highly valuable."
"Gained a deeper determination to pursue our passions about and continue our journey in scientific."
