Nobel Prize winner in chemistry to join Qingdao research facility

Park's supportive policies and efficient services are attracting more and more illustrious individuals

Danny Shechtman, winner of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry, has agreed to cooperate with Chinese brainpower cluster Qingdao International Academician Park in Shandong province, saying the work he does there can help him to apply his scientific research.

When Shechtman was invited to attend the Second Overseas Academicians' Qingdao Tour and Qingdao International Academicians Forum, held from Aug 16 to 18, he thought he would be making a short visit, simply giving some speeches and meeting other scientists.

But after a two-day investigation, Shechtman changed his mind, saying he was impressed by the advanced ideas in development, supporting policies and highly efficient services at the park.

The Israeli scientist discovered quasi-crystals, which are being used in many fields such as materials science and biology. He won the Nobel Prize in 2011, which made him one of the world's best known scientists.

The new materials industry in which he is involved is one of the major industries of the park with focuses on new energy, internet information and biological medicine.

Since its founding in 2016, the park has brought in 108 academicians from China and abroad, including Yuan Longping, China's "father of hybrid rice" and Seeram Ramakrishn, an academician of the Royal Academy of Engineering, the United Kingdom, who is known as "the father of electro spinning nanofibers".

Chinese academicians, foreign academicians of Chinese-origin and foreign academicians each constitute one-third of the park.

To invite top scientists such as Shechtman to the two-day event, the park sent emails to a long list of Nobel winners. About 90 percent of those letters received no response. Among others, most refused the invitation, saying they were too busy with work or were already cooperating with other institutes.

Wang Junxian, deputy director of the management committee of the park, visited Shechtman several times when he attended activities in other cities, such as Beijing and Xi'an, introducing the environment and polices of the park.

Besides Shechtman, a total of 49 out of 109 academicians from 22 countries and regions that attended the event have reached cooperation agreements with the park, along with 53 companies and 41 colleges and scientific research institutions.

Liu Jiayi, Party chief of Shandong province, said in his letter to the forum that Shandong needs more professionals to promote local development, and the forum established a bridge for scientists and entrepreneurs to communicate and innovate.

Pedro Alvarez, academician of the National Academy of Engineering in the United States, signed an agreement with the park to apply nano materials in the renovation of old factories, which would save costs, improve efficiency and reduce pollution.

Wu Yaowen, 38, from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, a biomedical scientist who mainly studies cells, decided to move his in-vitro diagnosis project to the park.

Besides the fund and location, Wu said the reputation of the park among high-level professionals, as well as the frequent exchanges among experts in different segments, are what impressed him most.

"The park has many interdisciplinary research projects, which are more likely to make innovative breakthroughs," Wu said. "In the future, humans will meet many challenges in sustainable development, and so communication and cooperation among different countries are of great importance."

Huang Wei, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, agreed.

"Exchanges between different disciplines can bring about new thoughts and technologies that can overturn the old pattern."

Huang mainly studies high-polymer materials and high-end film materials. Industrialization of the technology has not yet come about in the domestic market due to limitation of funds and production sites.

As Qingdao's economy grows rapidly, the park's preferential policies are also attractive, Huang said.

Both in China and other countries, the gap between innovation and reality bothers many top academicians.

Andrii Kostiko, academician from the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, said the unstable circumstances in his country have posed challenges for commercialization of his research.

But what he cannot do in his hometown can find a new path in Qingdao, he said

"The policies the park provides are very helpful to realize my career," he said, adding he hoped to put his scientific research into local market as soon as possible.

Zhu Xiaoxiang, an academician from the German National Academy of Science and Engineering, said scientists are often good at scientific study, but weak in project operation and marketing.

Without a complete operation mechanism, scientists are less likely to succeed in entrepreneurship, Zhu said.

Taerwe Luc, from the Royal Academies for Science and the Arts of Belgium, who focuses on high-performance building materials, said the park is very suitable for starting his own business.

Luc was worried at first because he didn't know the Chinese market and had no promotional team or sales channels. After learning the park would provide offices and funds, he said he planned to build a local team and is looking forward to cooperation with other academicians.

Currently, eight academician projects at the park have generated 25 products. Revenue of the major business of the park is expected to surpass 10 billion yuan ($1.46 billion) by the end of 2018, data from the park showed.

Forty-nine foreign academicians, 40 percent of all the attendees, signed cooperation agreements with the Qingdao International Academician Park during the Second Overseas Academicians' Qingdao Tour and Qingdao International Academicians Forum held in Shandong province from Aug 16 to 18.Photos Provided To China Daily

A number of foreign academicians explore an exhibition at the Qingdao International Academician Park in the city's Licang district.