On September 8-10, the first bilateral conference jointly organized by the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina was held at Yanqihu Campus of University of Chinese Academy of Sciences. President Chunli Bai of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and President Jörg Hacker of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina were present at the opening ceremony and delivered a speech. Nobel laureates Chen-Ning Yang (Theoretical Physics) and Klaus von Klitzing (Solid State Physics) gave keynote speeches on the theme about "Science and the Future" respectively. At the opening ceremony, President Chunli Bai and president Jörg Hacker signed and issued the "Beijing Declaration" on behalf of both academies of sciences, call for deepening the basic research of science and focusing on nurturing young talents.
President Chunli Bai pointed out in his speech that many great inventions in the history of science come from breakthroughs in basic research. Nowadays, to meet the needs of human development and solve the problems we faced, it is necessary to bring together the wisdom and innovation capabilities of all humanity. The critical solution is strengthening basic research and promoting scientific progress, as well as enhancing international cooperation. President Jörg Hacker said that the development of basic research stems from a natural curiosity about the unknown world and also requires us to think out of the box. Basic research has laid a solid foundation for the emergence of new methods and technologies, which helps solve common problems in society as well.
The "Beijing Declaration" states that strengthening basic research and promoting scientific progress is the key to dealing with a broad range of severe global challenges for humankind. The Chinese Academy of Sciences and the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina together proposed three initiatives: Deepening the Understanding of Science and Basic Research, Promoting Collaborative and Responsible Scientific Research, and Creating an Inspiring Environment for Science Advancement. Both academies also pledge to promote the value and significance of science and basic research in the public, organize a series of activities under the theme "Science for Future" to promote the growth of young scientists, and further strengthen the cooperation between the two academies for further scientific development in the international community.
The central theme of this joint conference held by the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina is "SCIENCE FOR FUTURE: ALL STARTS WITH BASIC SCIENCE." During the 3-day conference hosted by Zhang Tao, Vice President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the German Ambassador to China Mr. Clemens von Goetze attended the opening ceremony, Ferdi Schüth, vice chairman of the Max Planck Society, Rolf-Dieter Heuer, former director of the European Nuclear Organization, and many top Chinese and German scientists, including Huimin Lin, Qi Zhou, Tandong Yao and Jianwei Pan, delivered speeches of their research respectively. Before their speeches, a forum for 36 young scientists from both countries made brief presentations about their studies and exchanged ideas with these top scientists.
Translation: YAN Jin
Edited by GAO Yuan
