Report: Shanghai most attractive city to young scientists under 30

Stable scientific research funding support, high-level scientific research institutions, and opportunities to independently undertake research projects are the common aspirations of young scientists around the world and the most important factors recognized by the interviewees of the report.

The Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Shanghai is like a microcosm of this phenomenon. Spanish female doctor Rosa Lozano-Duran came to Shanghai in 2015 and formed a team at the center from scratch. In just five years, she published high-level papers in the top international academic journal Cell. At present, the center has attracted outstanding young scientists from Canada, Greece, South Korea and other countries.

What is the "ideal city" of technological innovation in the eyes of young scientists? The report showed that the critical elements include the city's ability to provide scientific researchers with reasonable living costs and good public services, world-class universities and scientific research institutions, active support for technological innovation from local government, and tolerance to diverse ethnic groups and cultures.

Shanghai has received high scores from global young scientists in these areas, especially in government support which was ranked first out of the 20 cities.

From the point of view of interviewees, "technology" and "entrepreneurship" are the keywords that best reflect the characteristics of Shanghai. At the same time, Shanghai also embodies distinctive urban characteristics such as diversification, internationalization, innovation and opportunities. For the young scientists, Shanghai has become a place of diversified development and a capital of technological entrepreneurship.

Compared with young scientists from other countries, young scientists from Chinese cities are more inclined to participate in science and technology entrepreneurship. Among them, young scholars in Shanghai show the strongest entrepreneurial enthusiasm, and the proportion of people who choose to participate in science and technology entrepreneurship and investment reached 17.07 percent, equivalent to one out of six people taking entrepreneurship as their career development direction.

In addition, the report also found that moving between different cities and academic institutions is conducive to the growth of young scientists.