Focusing on International Breakthroughs in Science Education: The 2025 World Top Scientists Science Education Forum and the 2nd "Shining Generation to Generation" Empowerment Forum for Female Science and Technology Talents Held in Shanghai
October 24, 2025, Shanghai — The 2025 World Top Scientists' Science Education Forum and the Second Science & Technology Girls Empowerment Forum with the theme of "One Generation Inspiring Another: Break Through" was grandly held at the Lingang Center in Shanghai. The forum was jointly hosted by L'Oréal China, the Shanghai Lingang Science and Technology Innovation Development Foundation, and the Faculty of Education at East China Normal University, and organized by the Organizing Committee of the World Top Scientists Forum. Key leaders from government, business, academia, research, and society gathered together to have a dialogue around the international breakthroughs in science education and the cultivation of scientific research talents.
Last year, the First Science & Technology Girls Empowerment Forum released the "Science & Technology Girls Empowerment Initiative", which mentioned that "it calls on all sectors of society to be guides in science education, providers of science education resources, and disseminators of science education concepts". Over the past year, L'Oréal's "Science & Technology Girls Empowerment Program" has actively responded to the initiative and made substantial progress in international cooperation, innovative cultivation, and ecological co - construction. At this forum, L'Oréal China also jointly announced with the Shanghai Lingang New Area the official opening of the Lingang Base for the "Science & Technology Girls Empowerment Program", and simultaneously held a Science & Technology Girls Empowerment Camp, providing science & technology girls with a comprehensive and systematic research and learning experience from participation, practice to result display.
The Lingang Base for the "Science & Technology Girls Empowerment Program" was officially opened, and the Science & Technology Girls Empowerment Camp was launched.
Wang Jianzhang, the vice - chairperson of the Shanghai Women's Federation, said in the opening speech: "Empowering women's development through science education and lighting up the scientific dream lamps for young women is a practical action to respond to the country's ardent expectations for women's development. We are very pleased to see that all sectors of society are constantly making efforts in this regard. We look forward to more enterprises, schools, and institutions joining in to jointly create a social environment of 'respecting women, supporting innovation, and being inclusive and harmonious' and laying a solid foundation for the growth of female scientific and technological talents."
Wang Jianzhang, the vice - chairperson of the Shanghai Women's Federation, delivered a speech.
Cross - border Summit: Exploring the International Future of Science Education Together
This forum once again brought together top scientists, education experts, science education communicators, and enterprise representatives from around the world to jointly discuss the paths to promote the internationalization and high - quality development of science education.
As the winner of the 2012 Nobel Prize in Physics, Serge Haroche interpreted "the challenges faced by science and education" from the perspective of a scientist: "The current world is facing many problems such as climate change and ecological environment protection, which can only be solved by science." In terms of science education, he also encouraged all girls with scientific and technological dreams to pursue their dreams boldly. "When we talk about the Nobel Prize, we need to prepare for everyone."
Serge Haroche, the winner of the 2012 Nobel Prize in Physics, gave a speech.
As the creator and practitioner of the "Chinese experience" in science education, Li Zhengtao, the director of the Training Center for Middle School Principals of the Ministry of Education and the director of the Institute of Basic Education Reform and Development of East China Normal University, proposed in his sharing of "Reflections on Chinese Science Education Concepts and Practices" that science education should build a cultivation system of "knowledge foundation, practice empowerment, and school - family - society collaboration", and promote resource balance and education inclusion through a two - way mechanism of "bringing in + going out".
Jiang Changjian, an associate professor at the School of International Relations and Public Affairs of Fudan University, shared his insights from the perspective of encouraging the career aspirations of science & technology girls. "We are glad to see that from 2010 to 2025, the number of female winners of the Nobel Prizes in natural sciences has been increasing. Behind this, family background, educational qualifications, and personality traits may not be the decisive factors. With love for science, firmness, and perseverance, they in the past can be you in the future!"
Jiang Changjian, an associate professor at the School of International Relations and Public Affairs of Fudan University, gave a speech.
In terms of the role of enterprises in participating in science education, Lan Zhenzhen, the President of Public Affairs for North Asia and China at L'Oréal, shared the breakthroughs achieved by the "Science & Technology Girls Empowerment Program" in the past year. In her opinion, enterprises in the field of science education should not only be "supporters", but also become "innovators" and "connectors". "We firmly believe that the initiative is not just a slogan, but a spark to light up the dreams of science & technology girls. Now this spark has the potential to start a prairie fire, and we look forward to promoting Chinese inspiration and innovation to the world and contributing more wisdom and possibilities to global female science education cooperation."
Lan Zhenzhen, the President of Public Affairs for North Asia and China at L'Oréal, gave a summary report.
Round - table Dialogue: Scientific Research Stories and Science Education Experiences from Multiple Perspectives
In the round - table discussion hosted by Yuan Lanfeng, the deputy director of the Department of Science Communication at the University of Science and Technology of China, representatives from Chinese and foreign scientific communities, education circles, and science & technology girls had in - depth exchanges around topics such as international cooperation in science education, the future development of projects, and the growth of science & technology girls under the theme of "One Generation Inspiring Another: Break Through".
The round - table discussion session
Scientists at home and abroad interpreted the inheritance of scientific spirit with their own experiences and discussed how to cultivate the next generation of scientific and technological talents. Carolyn R. Bertozzi, the winner of the 2023 "Life Science or Medicine Prize" of the World Laureates Association, said: "The prerequisite for students to become researchers is 'not knowing but wanting to know'. In my laboratory, I often encourage and even 'reward' mistakes, because real exploration often learns from mistakes." Thuc - Quyen Nguyen, a distinguished professor of chemistry and biochemistry at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and the director of the Center for Polymers and Organic Solids, encouraged young people with her own experience from a small village in Vietnam to the world academic stage: "It doesn't really matter if you can't get into a top - tier university. The key is to recognize your own strengths and weaknesses. And as a tutor, you need to understand the potential of students and give encouragement at any time." As a tutor for this "Science & Technology Girls Empowerment Camp", Chen Wen, the deputy director of the Science Department of the Innovation Academy for Microsatellites, Chinese Academy of Sciences, deeply felt the importance of "female power in scientific research": "In aerospace engineering, women often bring different ways of thinking and solutions, and many excellent women are playing irreplaceable roles in key positions."
Representatives from the education circle explained the international experience and local exploration of science education from a practical level. Zhang Wei, the executive director of the International Center of the Associated Schools Network of UNESCO and the director of the International Out - of - School Education Research Center of East China Normal University, said: "The core of science education is not indoctrination, but to let children maintain their curiosity about science and space for trial and error. Even in areas with limited resources, low - cost solutions can be used to let more girls access science and embark on an independent development path." Shen Yuting, the deputy director of the Shanghai Science and Technology Art Education Center, took the Science Innovation Practice Workstation established by the center as an example to show the exploration results of Shanghai in the popularization of science and technology education, and said that the proportion of girls participating in science and technology innovation practices has significantly increased in the past five years. She encouraged: "Please bravely embrace science. Maybe you won't become a scientist in the future, but good scientific literacy is very important for girls."
As a participant in the project, Weng Jiayu, a freshman at Fudan University and a representative of science & technology girls, also shared her growth feelings from participating in the "Science & Technology Girls Empowerment Program" several times: "When girls engage in scientific research, they don't need to break through the ceiling because we are already in the sky. Just like the Monkey King, we can also pick up the 'golden cudgel' and blaze our own scientific path."
"Sparkling Girls": Let Science Education Illuminate More Girls
As a special derivative activity of this forum, the "Sparkling Girls" Science & Technology Girls Empowerment Camp was launched in Lingang for the first time. This activity focused on the three breakthrough goals of "improving scientific knowledge, developing scientific thinking, and transmitting scientific spirit", led the girls to the site of the World Top Scientists Forum, and for the first time visited the Innovation Academy for Microsatellites, Chinese Academy of Sciences, bringing a comprehensive scientific research experience to more than twenty science & technology girls. The activity also set up a lakeside dialogue session, where a group of top scientific tutors led by Academician Chen Saijuan, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and the honorary lifetime tutor of the "One Generation Inspiring Another" Science & Technology Girls Empowerment Program, had a friendly exchange with the science & technology girls, creating an open and warm interactive atmosphere.
Science & technology girls visited the site of the World Top Scientists Forum
At the recently held Global Women's Summit, the country proposed to let more high - quality educational resources benefit all women. This proposal not only injects new impetus into the development of the global women's cause, but also points the way for the popularization of science education and gender equality. This empowerment camp is also committed to connecting educational resources between the eastern and western regions. It specially invited science & technology girls from the 59th Middle School in Lanzhou to participate, so that they could have a "two - way journey" with the science & technology girls in Shanghai and jointly feel the nourishment of science. When generations of science & technology girls boldly pursue their scientific dreams, "One Generation Inspiring Another" is no longer just a theme, but a series of real growth stories, telling how they break through and create the future under the light of science!