“My dream is to become an excellent female chemist, even though the journey might be difficult,” said Huang Zirui, a junior undergraduate from Jilin University at the Junior Excellence Dialogue during the fourth World Laureates Forum.

During the Dialogue session, seven young students, including Huang, were invited to report on their research in front of top scientists.

　　(The Dialogue session was held on Oct. 31, a day before the WLF officially opened.)

Huang was the only female speaker among the seven. Her research subject is the mechanism behind the shrinkage of water volume when NaOH is added into it. The question was raised by her when she was in high school. Now a university student majoring in chemistry, she kept working on the subject. For her, chemistry can be interpreted as “chem is try”, which means one has to do many experiments to get a deeper understanding of what they are studying. The girl still does not know which field she will be working in in the future, but she will keep on with a persisting love for chemistry.

The young scientists’ speeches revealed their curiosity about the planet and the universe. Li Shijia from Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, found his research interests on the track field. While watching discus athletes’ training, he came up with an idea of inventing a digitalized discus, and analyzed the key parameters behind throwing the discus. Though his algorithmic model program was once questioned by his supervisor, he did not give up. As he said,“science is just around us. Maybe it is on the track field which I love.”He has found more sports-related research he wants to do.

Among the audience, Zhou Yuzhu from Shanghai Yucai Middle School is also a chemist. She is studying electrocatalytic technology under the guidance of a professor at Fudan University, to help eliminate the emission of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.“I want to make some contributions to the country’s carbon neutrality goal,” said Zhou. This is the first time for her to attend the World Laureate Forum.“Being able to attend the WLF and have a closer look at these big names in science has given me a lot of confidence. I hope to become a person like them. All those Nobel laureates and scientists who have contributed to the development of humanity are my idols,” she added.