Over 340 young scientists convened and engaged with leading experts in science and technology from around the world at the Global Young Scientists Summit (GYSS) 2025. The four-day GYSS summit welcomed a handpicked list of participants from 49 countries including Singapore, Europe and Asia at the National University of Singapore (NUS) with a launching ceremony on 7 January 2025 by Mr Heng Swee Keat, Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the National Research Foundation, Singapore (NRF).
Deepening Engagements for Young Scientists
Organised by the NRF, GYSS 2025 offered opportunities for young scientists to showcase their work and interact with established scientists, engineers, and technopreneurs. These include 18 eminent scientists, including Nobel Laureates, Fields Medallists, Turing Award recipients, and winners of other top international science awards.
A main highlight is the small group sessions, or “Fireside Chats” that fostered active interaction between young scientists and established top minds. Participants also had the opportunity to engage in Young Scientists Quickfire Pitch sessions with 16 young scientist presenters and two dedicated Poster Sessions with 100 posters in total, where they can present their research to esteemed scientists and fellow researchers. Part of the Summit experience also includes visits to local universities and research institutions, providing participants with a firsthand look at the research and technologies developed in Singapore.
Inspiring STEM education
GYSS 2025 champions the values of science education and inspire a passion for STEM education and esteemed scientists involved represented organisations like Singapore’s NUS, NTU, A*STAR, Singapore Science Centre, Singapore Management University, SGInnovate, and SUTD. Among the 19 scientists this year, the Summit welcomed four who presented for the first time. They include Professor Joan Rose, Professor Louis Ignarro, Professor Steven Chu and Professor Yael Kalai and spoke in the presence of special guest, Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of the Kingdom of Thailand who attended the opening ceremony in support of young Thai researchers.
The GYSS is the only international summit in Asia that allows young scientists to engage with esteemed experts across various fields, including healthcare, quantum and physics, forensic science, computer science, and engineering. For example, this year, Professor Joan Rose’s presentation looked into the evolution of viruses in our environment and their impact on health. The summit also looks ahead at the future of artificial intelligence, and Professor Joseph Sifakis presented a talk on the current state of AI and its potential to merge with other technologies, highlighting both opportunities and challenges.
NRF Chief Executive Officer, Mr John Lim said, “Young scientists are the future of technology, innovation, and enterprise. Initiatives like the Global Young Scientists Summit provide opportunity for young scientists worldwide to gather for a five-day immersion, to engage with groundbreaking ideas, be inspired by world leaders in their fields, learn from each other, and imagine new possibilities for the future of science and humanity.”
Some of the other notable speakers included Professor Louis Ignarro, Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine (1998) who shared an inspiring story— from his upbringing in New York City as the son of first-generation immigrant parents to his groundbreaking research on nitric oxide as a signalling molecule in the cardiovascular system—highlighting the transformative power of mentorship and support in his scientific journey.
Prof Ignarro shared his thoughts on the importance of perseverance in science: “Science is full of challenges, and the journey is often tough, but it is precisely these struggles that make every breakthrough so rewarding. As young scientists, it’s important to embrace these challenges, knowing that they are part of the process that will eventually lead to discovery. The Global Young Scientists Summit is a place where young researchers can find inspiration, learn from each other, and push the frontiers of science together.”
Professor Joan Rose, the 2016 Stockholm Water Prize Laureate, emphasises the critical role of young scientists in addressing global water challenges: “The future of our planet’s water quality and public health rests in the hands of the next generation of scientists.
“Their innovative approaches and designs of novel technologies are essential to developing global water quality data, which is so desperately needed, and their dedication will help achieve sustainable solutions for clean water access worldwide. Platforms such as the Global Young Scientists Summit provide an invaluable platform for these emerging leaders to collaborate, learn, and be inspired to drive meaningful change.”
Adolphus Lye, 30, Research Fellow at the National University of Singapore (NUS), said, “Collaboration is an important aspect of science today, especially given that the problems we deal with are interdisciplinary. One cannot simply solve a problem on their own. Through collaboration, we gain access to a wider pool of knowledge from people across different scientific disciplines. The Summit’s discussions help spark better ideas and novel approaches to solving research problems better and more creatively. That is the beauty of GYSS, in that it fosters interactions between participants from different disciplines, generates opportunities for collaborations, and solves problems of today.”
Doreen Steven Mlote, 27, a Graduate Student at SUTD hailing from Tanzania, said, “Presenting my research at GYSS reignited my confidence in sharing research with other researchers worldwide. Standing in front of thousands of people can be intimidating, but it can also be a turning point and a reminder that anything is possible, which is what GYSS did for me.”
Eminent Scientists at the GYSS 2025
1. Aaron Ciechanover
o Award: Nobel Prize in Chemistry (2004)
o Field: Biochemistry, for the discovery of ubiquitin-mediated protein degradation
2. Adi Shamir
o Award: Turing Award (2002)
o Field: Cryptography, co-inventor of the RSA algorithm
3. Brian Schmidt
o Award: Nobel Prize in Physics (2011)
o Field: Astrophysics, for the discovery of the accelerating expansion of the universe
4. Dame Sue Black
o Field: Forensic Anthropology, recognised for research into identification from the hand
5. Duncan Haldane
o Award: Nobel Prize in Physics (2016)
o Field: Condensed Matter Physics, for theoretical discoveries of topological phase transitions and topological phases of matter
6. Hartmut Michel
o Award: Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1988)
o Field: Biochemistry, for the determination of the three-dimensional structure of a photosynthetic reaction center
7. Joan Rose
o Award: Stockholm Water Prize (2016)
o Field: Environmental Microbiology, for work on water quality and public health
8. Joseph Sifakis
o Award: Turing Award (2007)
o Field: Computer Science, specialising in the design of trustworthy systems
9. Leslie Valiant
o Award: Turing Award (2010)
o Field: Computer Science, for contributions to computational learning theory
10. Louis J. Ignarro
o Award: Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (1998)
o Field: Pharmacology, recognised for discoveries concerning nitric oxide as a signaling molecule in the cardiovascular system
11. Sir Richard Roberts
o Award: Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (1993)
o Field: Molecular Biology, for the discovery of split gene
12. Sir Konstantin Novoselov
o Award: Nobel Prize in Physics (2010)
o Field: Condensed Matter Physics, specifically the isolation and study of graphene
13. Sir Tim Hunt
o Award: Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (2001)
o Field: Cell Biology, for discoveries of key regulators of the cell cycle
14. Stefan Hell
o Award: Nobel Prize in Chemistry (2014)
o Field: Physical Chemistry, for the development of super-resolved fluorescence microscopy
15. Steven Chu
o Award: Nobel Prize in Physics (1997)
o Field: Atomic Physics, known for research in laser cooling and trapping of atoms
16. Takaaki Kajita
o Award: Nobel Prize in Physics (2015)
o Field: Particle Physics, for the discovery of neutrino oscillations
17. Wendelin Werner
o Award: Fields Medal (2006)
o Field: Mathematics, for work on stochastic Loewner evolution and the geometry of two-dimensional Brownian motion
18. Yael Tauman Kalai
o Award: ACM Prize in Computing (2022)
o Field: Computer Science, with contributions to cryptography and verifiable delegation of computation
Learn more about the summit here: Global Young Scientists Summit.
Like this?
Share it:
Over 340 young scientists from 49 countries converge at the 2025 Global Young Scientists Summit is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International license. Quote Source: https://www.asiafitnesstoday.com/over-340-young-scientists-from-49-countries-converge-at-the-2025-global-young-scientists-summit/
Share this:
