Mid-December saw the Department of Chemistry at Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) host the Seventh Youth Symposium on the Total Synthesis of Natural Products. Professor Li Chuangchuang from the Department of Chemistry presided over the three-day symposium, which saw over 200 experts and scholars in attendance. Key attendees included SUSTech’s Dean of the College of Sciences Yang Xueming and Head of the Department of Chemistry Zheng Zhiping.

The symposium focused on the development trend of natural product separation, synthesis, chemical biology and related fields at home and abroad, as well as the hot issues of common concern. The experts and scholars came from 39 universities and research institutes from across mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan province. There were two academicians from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, more than ten recipients of the National Nature Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, along with dozens of excellent young scholars who had received funding from the National Science Fund. Everyone in attendance upheld and acknowledged the rapid development of SUSTech’s Department of Chemistry.

The symposium is a critical conference in the total synthesis of natural products. It serves to carry forward the fine academic traditions of the older generation of chemists by highlighting the important position of natural product synthesis in organic chemistry research. It also aims to build an high-profile platform for academic exchange among young scholars.