The 2026 World Laureates Forum convened in Shanghai, China, on 30 October.
Organisers set the overarching theme as "New Science Paradigm: Break Through for the Next Decade." Participants engaged in dialogues regarding quantum science, future energy, AI, aerospace information, biomedicine, and future semiconductors. A total of 140 senior scientists and 78 budding scientists took part in the event.
The assembly included 32 individuals who have received international honours, including the Fields Medal, Wolf Prize, Turing Award, and Nobel Prize. The delegation also comprised 23 members of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The schedule featured a closing ceremony, four events, six parallel forums, and a main forum.
Eleven scientists were presented with the 2026 World Laureates Foundation (WLF) Prize during the proceedings. Ingrid Daubechies was presented with the award for mathematics. Yuan Junying, Wang Xiaodong, Shao Feng, and Vishva Dixit shared the award for medicine or life science.
Shao Feng became the first Chinese citizen to be granted a WLF Prize. Yuan Junying said her greatest wish is to see her lab's findings translated into clinical therapies, calling it the most meaningful reward. Wang Xiaodong stated that trust is essential in scientific collaboration, and a spot of friendly competition has its merits too.
Vishva Dixit remarked that people live because cells can die. Laurent Lafforgue noted that large language models can already solve some problems human mathematicians have never cracked, but AI cannot shortcut the wisdom that comes from the effort required to actually learn. A question wall was provided for attendees to submit their queries.
