A LIST of 10 major science and technology issues voted by Tencent’s 100 Xplorer Prize winners was unveiled at the First Explorer Forum held at Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) on Sunday.

The 10 major science and technology issues cover the hot issues shared by academia and society such as human consciousness, human-machine interactive communications, delaying and preventing aging, quantum computing utilization and inhabitation in exterior planets and popularization of solar power.

“The 10 science and technology issues not only reflect the reflections and observations of modern young scholars, but also cast light on the present and future technological issues that the general public in society care about,” said Chen Shiyi, chairman of the forum committee.

“Young scientists are the backbone of the country’s science and technology undertaking. They are the major contributor to promote breakthroughs in original innovation. Interdisciplinary research, cross-boundary cooperation and systematic integration and innovation have become indispensable accelerators for major science and research projects. We hope the forum will be helpful for making breakthroughs in basic science research,” Chen said.

Chen hoped the forum will become a bridge for dialogue among multigenerational scientists and a platform that breaks down boundaries of different science research subjects.

The Xplorer Prize was launched by Tencent in 2018 to mark the company’s 20th anniversary, and to support research and development in life sciences, advanced manufacturing and other key science and technology fields.

“We will try to solve two pain points in science innovation like the original innovation capability and innovation system efficiency,” Lu Shan, senior vice president of Tencent, said at the forum. Tencent set up a sustainable social value business group earlier this year with an initial investment of 50 billion yuan (US$7.74 billion), hoping to promote social value innovations in basic research, urban rejuvenation, carbon neutralization, elderly nursing and public emergencies.

The Xplorer Prize is a nongovernmental, nonprofit and public benefit award designed and run by a select group of scientists. It is given to 50 science professionals under 45 years of age. Each prizewinner will receive 600,000 yuan annually for five consecutive years to support their exploration in fundamental science and cutting-edge core technologies.

(Han Ximin)