ICBS 2026 at Tsinghua brings together leading scientists and students
On 15 August, leading mathematicians and physicists from around the world gathered at the prestigious Tsinghua University in Beijing for the "Tsinghua Day" event of the International Congress on Basic Sciences (ICBS 2026). Experts shared their views on cutting-edge research, discussed how AI is changing scientific discovery, and exchanged ideas with young students about the future of fundamental science.
The forum "Frontiers of Mathematics and Physics" connected the world's leading scientists with young students. ICBS President and Director of the Beijing Institute of Mathematical Sciences and Applications (BIMSA) Shing-Tung Yau emphasised: "Traditionally, we make education an important component of ICBS. We need young people to continue the directions we are developing." On the physics panel, Oxford University professor Subir Sarkar spoke about his work in the new field of particle astrophysics and cosmology.
ICBS 2026 David Gross Medal in Physics laureate and US National Academy of Sciences member Xiao-Gang Wen noted: "In my view, many studies are aimed not at solving a problem, but at posing a question." ICBS 2026 Samuel C.C. Ting Medal in Physics laureate and Chinese Academy of Sciences member Yifang Wang advised: "It is very difficult for young people (and seniors too) to calculate in advance what the return will be. If you find a topic interesting – just go for it." ICBS 2026 Marie Curie Medal in Physics laureate and US National Academy of Sciences member Andrea J. Liu spoke about the role of AI: "We identified AI with the help of AI itself. The question is how to use it as a tool. We assigned AI the parts where we didn't care whether we knew all the details. So it's a combination."
On the mathematics panel, 2018 Fields Medal laureate and foreign member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences Caucher Birkar noted: "AI is good in some areas. A human is much better in many others when it comes to creativity, new ideas, insight." ICM 2022 invited speaker and University of California, Berkeley professor Richard Bamler added: "I have a feeling that AI can actually bring us closer together, and we should focus more on human interaction." 2007 Feng Kang Prize in Computational Mathematics laureate and University of California, Irvine professor Hongkai Zhao emphasised: "In mathematics, you probably learn the most when you experience difficulties, so it's the process of overcoming that should be valued most." ICBS 2026 Andrew Wiles Medal in Mathematics laureate and American Academy of Arts and Sciences member Shou-Wu Zhang observed: "For me, from the perspective of my research, with AI I can learn new things much faster than before." ICM 2026 invited speaker and University of Michigan professor Thomas Lam added: "When using AI, it's useful to be able to spend time without AI as well."
As part of the popular science lectures, ICBS President Shing-Tung Yau noted: "Science education plays a vital role. We invited these first-class, deeply knowledgeable scientists to give lectures to young students, to let them understand that in this vast world there are many important questions yet to be solved." Also giving lectures were European Academy member and Clay Mathematics Institute president Martin Bridson, foreign member of the European Academy and Tsinghua University professor of computer science and technology Maosong Sun, deputy director of the Confucius Museum Jinquan Yang, and Microsoft Research principal researcher Bin Zhu.
Max Wenqiang Xu, tenure-track assistant professor at the Yau Center for Mathematical Sciences at Tsinghua University, noted the significance of including Tsinghua Day in the ICBS 2026 programme. Junyan Zheng, a student at the Beihai Campus of Beijing No.4 High School, admitted: "This is an academic conference, so many words confuse me, but I will try to learn them later and also become a scientist or mathematician."
As CCTV+ reports, Tsinghua Day at ICBS 2026 became a vivid example of how fundamental science connects generations and disciplines. The dialogue between established scientists and those just beginning their journey shows that the future of science is built not in isolation, but in lively exchange of ideas. Artificial intelligence, new horizons in physics and mathematics – all become closer and clearer when senior colleagues openly share their experience and young people boldly ask questions.
