Turing Award winner sees promising future for China's basic sciences

A Turing Award winner lauded high interest of the Chinese in scholarships, expressing expectations for China's development in mathematics, computer science and basic sciences.

Leslie Valiant, winner of 2010 ACM A.M. Turing Award, made the remarks in an exclusive interview with China Media Group.

He was also granted the 2024 Basic Science Lifetime Award in Theoretical Computer and Information Sciences at the International Congress of Basic Science held in mid-July in Beijing.

The event aimed to share cutting-edge achievements in the field of basic science and envision the future development of fundamental research.

"I think these prizes of the international congress of basic sciences are rather novel in that they celebrate the mathematical sciences across the board, including pure mathematics, physics, and computer science. So, I like what they're doing. So, I'm excited to be here," he said.

Valiant also shared the deep impression on Chinese counterparts in academia after exchanging views with them at the congress.

"I think the Chinese interest in scholarship is always wonderful. I think the tradition in China and love of scholarship is a wonderful strength. I think China has obviously all the great investment now in mathematics, computer science, basic sciences, [which] I think is a very good thing. And sure, China is going to do extremely well. I've always admired the Chinese traditional love of learning mathematics," he said.

Turing Award winner sees promising future for China's basic sciences

Turing Award winner sees promising future for China's basic sciences

Turing Award winner sees promising future for China's basic sciences

A team of Chinese ocean engineers has been tracking data on natural resources in relevant areas of the South China Sea throughout the year to support work including ecological early warning, marine observation and forecasting, and disaster prevention and mitigation.

The engineers at the Sansha Marine Center under the Ministry of Natural Resources said they had observed various shades of blue in the South China Sea, which reveal rich information about weather, marine life, and seabed topography.

While enjoying the vitality and diversity deep under the waves, they also perceived the sensitivity and vulnerability of the ecosystems.

Bai Chenghua, one of the team members, participated in coral reef investigations at Xianbin Jiao, Ren'ai Jiao, and Tiexian Jiao in the South China Sea, and documented different situations of the coral reef ecosystems under China's protection and amid destruction by the foreign side.

"I carry out my daily work with a sense of patriotism. Each time we conduct an investigation here, it is a declaration of China's sovereignty over this sea area. Combining my work experience and knowledge, I feel quite proud to be able to make a contribution to upholding China's territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests," said Bai.

"By obtaining natural resources data with the highest possible precision, we have been safeguarding China's territory in our own way," said Liu Taorong, another engineer of the team.

The team has collected samples of over 400 fish species and 300 shellfish species from the South China Sea and compiled the findings into books.

Chinese ocean engineers track data on natural resources in South China Sea