During the lecture
During the lecture, Sir Paul Nurse, starting from the fundamental principles of cell biology, systematically elaborated on the nature and characteristics of life in an accessible manner. Beginning with the “cell”, he reviewed the key discoveries of scientists from Robert Hooke and Antoni van Leeuwenhoek to Theodor Schwann and Rudolf Virchow, emphasizing that the cell is the basic unit of life, and vividly explained how cells interact with their environment through boundaries and maintain internal order.
Sir Paul Nurse delivered the speech
Zhou Qi hosted the lecture
The lecture spanned five core sections: The Cell, The Gene, Life as Chemistry, Life as Information, and Evolution by Natural Selection. Sir Paul Nurse not only outlined important biological theories but also interspersed the stories of scientific giants such as Gregor Mendel, Louis Pasteur, and Charles Darwin. He emphasized that life is not merely a collection of chemical and physical processes but a complex system reliant on information storage and regulation; all life on Earth originates from a common ancestor and evolves and adapts through natural selection. The lecture integrated historical perspectives, philosophy of science, and insights from modern biology, providing a profound response to the fundamental question: What is Life?
Sir Paul Nurse exchanged ideas with students
The lecture was hosted by Zhou Qi, Vice President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences(CAS) and President of UCAS. More than 300 Chinese and international students from UCAS, Peking University, Tsinghua University, Beijing Institute of Technology, and other institutions participated and actively engaged in the Q&A session, exchanging insights with each other.
Before the lecture, Zhou Qi officially met with the delegation from the Royal Society, UK at the Zhongguancun Campus of UCAS. The meeting was attended by Liu Weidong, Director General of the Bureau of International Cooperation of CAS, Wang Yanfen, Executive Vice President of UCAS, and Lin Xiao, Vice President of UCAS.
More information：
In September 2013, Sir Paul Nurse was invited to speak at the UCAS China Sciences and Humanities Forum, delivering a report titled “Making Science Work”. Following the speech, UCAS conferred on him the title of honorary professor and presented the certificate to him.
