Melting minds and merging sciences is the key to qualitative discoveries that bring about a radical change in human lives

The Transformative Technologies Forum, within the World Summit of Scientists, which was launched today in conjunction with the World Government Summit, reviewed the latest developments in transformative technologies affecting the fields of science, space, energy, and artificial intelligence, and highlighted the importance of integration between basic research and practical applications, with a focus on integrity and trust in scientific research.

The World Summit of Scientists is the largest global gathering of its kind, and over three days it brings together more than 100 scientists and participants including Nobel Prize laureates and other international scientific awards and leaders of research institutions, in conjunction with the World Government Summit 2026, which is held from February 3 to 5. February 3 has been designated as a joint day that brings together scientists with heads of states and governments, ministers, and leaders of international organizations and institutions participating in the World Government Summit.

A number of Nobel Prize-winning scientists and young researchers with international awards participated in the forum, who stressed that transformative technologies are reshaping the features of the world, not only at the scientific level, but also at the political, economic and social levels, explaining that innovation begins with basic research, as most transformative technologies arise from scientific discovery and not from direct industrial planning, which reflects the importance of sustainable investment in scientific research.

The Elders stressed that artificial intelligence represents an accelerating tool for research, scientific experiments, and model design, but it remains supportive of the human element and is not a substitute for human curiosity and creativity.

They stressed that integration between different scientific disciplines is the key to transforming basic discoveries into applicable technologies capable of bringing about fundamental changes, while integrity and trust in scientific research are considered the cornerstone of sustaining innovation and enhancing the credibility of scientific results.

Professor Dawn Freshwater, Vice Chancellor at the University of Auckland, said in her opening speech that the holding of the forum comes at a pivotal global moment in which science intersects in an unprecedented way with the fields of government, industry, finance, economics and society, in a scene that reflects a profound transformation in the nature of knowledge production and its role in shaping the future.

She emphasized that transformative technologies have become the most prominent feature of the twenty-first century, and that despite the widespread belief that geopolitics is the main driver of global instability, these same technologies are contributing to deepening and accelerating this turmoil.

In turn, Professor Kip Thorne, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics 2017, stressed the importance of the scientific achievement of compressed light technology (Squeezed Light) which enabled Observatory LIGO From monitoring gravitational waves several times a week.

He added that the risks that threaten the university scientific research system may greatly affect the development of technologies that bring about radical change, stressing the need to strengthen international cooperation to ensure the continuity of innovation and the sustainability of scientific progress.

For his part, Professor David MacMillan, winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the year 2021, presented the journey of developing photochemical catalysis (Photoredox Catalysis), explaining how his basic discoveries contributed to opening new horizons for drug development.

He emphasized that scientific curiosity and discovery were the primary motivation behind these achievements, not industrial applications.

Professor Tao Zhang, a researcher at the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics – Chinese Academy of Sciences, spoke about single-atomic catalysts (Single-Atom Catalysts) which enabled scientists to understand catalytic mechanisms at the atomic level with high accuracy, and pointed to the pivotal role of artificial intelligence and big data technologies in designing more efficient and less expensive catalysts.

He added that controlling a single atom opens broad horizons for carbon neutrality and clean energy, and allows the design of innovative materials more efficiently.

Professor Kurt Wuterich, winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2002, shared his insights on the use of artificial intelligence in analyzing biological data and protein structure, explaining that artificial intelligence accelerates scientific work but cannot replace intuition and experimentation.

AI is an accelerator, he said, but it cannot ask fundamental scientific questions or replace curiosity and discovery.

At the level of young research scientists, Dr. Rahul R. Nair, winner of the 2024 Blavatnik Young Scientist Prize, Professor of Materials Physics, University of Manchester, demonstrated his research on graphene membranes for water desalination and industrial separation applications, emphasizing that transformations in the water and energy sector will come gradually through innovation supported by scientific research:

He added that transformative technologies start as basic research, but require time and community trust before they can turn into large-scale solutions.

Dr. Moran Bercovici reviewed his projects to develop space telescopes based on the use of liquids, which in the future could allow the construction of huge mirrors with a size ranging between 50-100 metres. He pointed out the possibility of applying the same technology on Earth to manufacture medical lenses at low costs for developing countries.

Dr. Samuel Otti, winner of the Nicholas Curti Science Prize 2023, addressed the importance of basic scientific research and commitment to integrity and responsibility, warning against media exaggeration or funding pressures that may undermine scientific confidence.

He said that major discoveries were not born out of the technology industry, but out of curiosity, and technology came later.