Speech by CE at Shaw Prize Award Presentation Ceremony 2025 (English just) (with photos/video)
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Following is the speech by the Chief Executive, Mr John Lee, at the Shaw Prize Award Presentation Ceremony 2025 today (October 21):
Deputy Director Luo Yonggang (Deputy Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region), Acting Commissioner Li Yongsheng (Acting Commissioner of the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region), Dr Raymond Chan (Chair of the Shaw Prize Foundation), Professor Kenneth Young (Chair of the Shaw Prize Council), Professor Reinhard Genzel (Chair of the Board of Adjudicators of the Shaw Prize Foundation), well-regarded laureates, identified visitors, girls and gentlemen,
Great night. I am pleased to be here, with you, on this remarkable event– the Shaw Prize Award Presentation Ceremony. An event of the accomplishments by our impressive researchers.
Generations after generations, we base on the shoulders of giants to look upon the future of science, combining, developing on, and typically breaking through the structures developed by them.
As we collect to commemorate brand-new accomplishments on this journey, we should likewise commemorate trendsetters who came before us. It remains in this spirit of respect, and connection, that we keep in mind and honour a huge figure for the Shaw Prize, the clinical neighborhood and, certainly, humankind– Professor Chen-ning Yang.
An establishing member of the Shaw Prize Council and the Chair of its Board of Adjudicators for over a years, Professor Yang contributed in developing the really requirements of quality we acknowledge today. As one of the very first Chinese researchers to get a Nobel Prize in Physics, he improved contemporary physics, and stayed dedicated to the clinical and instructional advancements of China, our nation.
Teacher Yang’s spirit of intellectual pursuit, and his steady devotion to advancing understanding for humankind, continue to reside on today.
This dedication to quality brings us here this evening– some 600 strong from all over the world– to honour this year’s Shaw Laureates. Here to commemorate their pioneering advances in 3 discrete disciplines: astronomy, life science and medication, and mathematical sciences.
My congratulations to each of you for your exceptional, and continuing, contributions to science and to civilisation– to a future intense with co-operation, development and function.
That, obviously, mentions the vision Sir Run Shaw gave engaging life– with the assistance of Professor Yang and other charter members– one that commemorates education and the pursuit of understanding through science and research study.
That vision is main to the concerns and policies of the HKSAR Government. We devote considerable financial investments to development and innovation, and the research study and advancement that drives it.
That exact same dedication forms our post-secondary education. I’m happy to state that Hong Kong is home to 5 of the world’s leading 100 universities. And, in the 2026 World University Rankings, revealed previously this month, Hong Kong declared a record 6 areas in the leading 200.
This year, for the very first time, all 8 of our openly financed universities made the World University Rankings.
And in this year’s World Talent Ranking, Hong Kong ended up 4th total, topping the world in the classification of “graduates in sciences”
Hong Kong’s exceptional organizations support our gifted and hard-working young generation. They likewise assist to draw in a few of the world’s finest academics and specialists to our city. Simply this month, we invited a Nobel Laureate in Physics to among our universities. We are appreciative to lots of science laureates, in addition to first-rate academics and scientists in our city, and I’m positive that they will continue to move Hong Kong’s increase as a global education and I&T center.
The Hong Kong Government will continue to work carefully with the Shaw Prize, our homegrown clinical award of global prominence, in understanding the capacity of science, and in adding to a world that rewards partnership, consistency and a future of pledge and development for all.
My congratulations to all laureates once again. I want you a remarkable night in Hong Kong– Asia’s world city. Asia’s science city.
Thank you.