ICBS 2026 Opens in Beijing

The 2026 International Congress of Basic Science (ICBS 2026) opened on August 9 in Beijing, bringing together four Fields Medalists -- Shing-Tung Yau, Maxim Kontsevich, Martin Hairer and Caucher Birkar -- and Turing Award laureate Robert Tarjan, alongside Li Luming, president of Tsinghua University. More than 80 recipients of the Shaw Prize, Wolf Prize and Dirac Medal, some 400 internationally recognized scholars, and more than 800 researchers and students from over 30 countries and regions gathered for the flagship event. During the ceremony, nine scientists received the inaugural ICBS Medal for contributions spanning mathematics, physics and engineering: Claire Voisin, Horng-Tzer Yau, Shou-Wu Zhang, Andrea Liu, Wu Yi-fang, Xiao-gang Wen, Zhenan Bao, Xiaowei Zhuang and Feng Zhanwen. Four of this year's medalists are women. The Frontiers of Science Awards recognized 111 high-impact original research papers from more than 20 countries and regions. Nineteen of the recognized papers were authored by researchers from 17 Chinese institutions, including two papers featuring five scholars from Tsinghua University, spanning fields such as geometric analysis, quantum theory, large AI models, and computer vision. In his remarks, ICBS President Yau noted that China has expanded its support for basic research through increased funding, policy initiatives, talent development and investments in research infrastructure. Li Luming emphasized the important role that leading research universities should play in advancing basic research in the era of AI.