On May 17, the Shenzhen Grubbs Institute (SGI) along with SUSTech’s Department of Chemistry, co-organized the 7th Grubbs Symposium, which focused on important research areas including catalytic chemistry, polymer chemistry, and materials chemistry. Attendees included Robert Grubbs, co-recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry and the Victor and Elizabeth Atkins Professor of Chemistry at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) Fellows, SUSTech President Chen Shiyi, and Science, Technology and Innovation Commission of Shenzhen Municipality Vice Director Zhong Hai.

SGI Executive Director Zheng Zhiping presided over the symposium, at which he presented the goals of the institute: to become a leading research organization worldwide and to overcome technical difficulties in new medicine and new materials.

President Chen delivered the opening speech, hoping that the Grubbs Symposium will become the face of Shenzhen’s world-class academic exchange.

On behalf of SSTIC, Vice Director Zhong congratulated everyone on the successful opening of the symposium and stressed that the Grubbs Institute is the first laboratory in Shenzhen named after a Nobel Prize recipient. He hoped that the Institute would develop rapidly and contribute to the scientific innovation of SUSTech and the city of Shenzhen.

Professor Grubbs followed with his report titled “Design and Applications of Selective Olefin Metathesis Catalysts,” which illustrated that optimized catalysts could lead to the synthesis of cis-olefins and trans-olefins with high efficiency and selectivity. Such a method is instrumental to the synthesis of pharmaceutical molecules and new materials.

Another 17 scholars including United States National Academy of Sciences (NAS) member Kendall N. Houk, CAS Fellow Tang Benzhong, and CAS Fellow Tang Yong presented on their research findings and insights, which generated active discussions throughout the program.