On September 21, the Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech), together with Tencent’s Sustainable Social Value (SSV) and the New Cornerstone Science Foundation, co-hosted the fifth New Cornerstone Forum.

The event brought together nearly 500 participants from all walks of life, including renowned academicians and scholars such as Qide HAN, Xiaojuan JIANG, Qikun XUE, Xiaodong WANG, Xiaoliang XIE, and Songling WANG, as well as New Cornerstone researchers and Xplorer Prize recipients.

In his opening remarks, SUSTech President Qikun XUE emphasized the importance of strengthening original innovation and cultivating top talent to support the nation’s scientific and technological self-reliance. He noted that the New Cornerstone Forum has become a key platform for exchange and collaboration between leading scientists from both China and abroad, driving both academic and technological progress.

Tencent Senior Vice President Dan XI remarked that the New Cornerstone Science Foundation has stayed true to its mission of encouraging originality. By supporting innovative funding models, academic exchanges, and science outreach, the foundation ensures that scientists with truly innovative ideas and abilities are recognized, supported, and empowered to grow.

At the forum, Qide HAN, Honorary President of the China Association for Science and Technology (CAST), moderated a roundtable dialogue with Minmin LUO, Co-Director of the National Institute of Biological Sciences, Beijing (NIBS); Hongtao YU, Chair Professor and Dean of the School of Life Sciences at Westlake University; Yayou WANG, Dean of the School of Science at Tsinghua University; and Nanfeng ZHENG, Professor at Xiamen University.

Their discussion focused on how to improve original scientific research, with the panel highlighting the need to extend evaluation timelines for young scientists, provide stronger support and guidance for career development, and maintain openness to unconventional ideas. In closing, Qide HAN noted that no evaluation system is flawless, and that diverse evaluation mechanisms are essential to encourage researchers to pursue groundbreaking, long-term, and high-risk projects.

Xiaojuan JIANG, Professor at the University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (UCASS) and Director of the National Data Expert Advisory Committee, delivered a keynote talk on digital intelligence, arguing that new technologies in the artificial intelligence (AI) era must be judged by both their rationality and desirability. She called for a distributed governance model that combines market mechanisms, public consensus, and industry self-regulation.

Xiaodong WANG, Director of NIBS, spoke on how to achieve original breakthroughs in the life sciences. He illustrated his points with the career of his close friend and scientist Zhijian CHEN, emphasizing that progress often requires both hard work and scientific exchanges. Although not every exchange will yield results, after a period of time, it will result in progress.

Xiaoliang XIE, Director of the Changping Laboratory, reviewed shifts in biomedical research paradigms, arguing that big data and AI are fundamentally transforming how we study and address major health challenges such as emerging epidemics, cancer, and Alzheimer’s disease.

President Qikun XUE shared recent advances in unconventional high-temperature superconductivity, tracing discoveries in copper, iron, and nickel-based superconductors and highlighting progress by Chinese scientists in raising nickel-based transition temperatures. He stressed that curiosity, dialogue, and interdisciplinary collision are important for original breakthroughs. He also discussed the potential of superconducting “sandwich” structures for quantum computing chips, the rapid transformation of the giant magnetoresistance effect from discovery to application, and the great challenges and opportunities in achieving room-temperature superconductivity—a discovery that would mark a milestone in human scientific history.

In the afternoon, seven Xplorer Prize recipients and New Cornerstone researchers presented their latest scientific research findings, focusing on how original innovation fuels scientific discovery and sustainable development.

As the flagship academic event of the New Cornerstone Science Foundation, the forum has run for five consecutive years, providing a cross-disciplinary platform for young scientists. This year’s theme focused on the deep links between basic research, disruptive technologies, and sustainable development. The event also featured the 7^th Xplorer Prize ceremony, where Professor Shujia ZHU from the School of Life Sciences at SUSTech was recognized for her achievements in the field of life sciences.