Richard Karp,

Gross has been a central figure in particle physics and string theory. He won the Nobel Prize with Frank Wilczek, his student, for their discovery in 1973 of “asymptotic freedom” — a characteristic of quantum particles — which led to the formulation of Quantum chromodynamics, the theory of the strong nuclear force.

“The scientific and technological development of China over the past years has been amazing. I visited China 30 years ago, and the growth is quite remarkable and very impressive. China is investing in basic science, which leads to having a lot of scientists.”

“Chinese people in general and the Chinese government recognize the importance of science for economic growth and development. They respect knowledge. As an American, I’m very happy because we cooperated and collaborated.”

“It is a wonderful life to be a scientist, it’s an adventure. Scientists can teach and do important research. For the individual, it widens the experience of life.”

Shechtman was the sole winner of the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 2011 for his discovery of seemingly impossible crystal structures in metal alloys. Instead of the regular patterns seen in other crystallized materials, the atoms in his “quasi-period materials” were arranged so that they were regular but never repeated. His discoveries in the early 1980s changed chemistry.

“My first visit to China was in 1987, and I’ve been following the country’s progress. It’s really amazing.”

“Chinese scientists are publishing more good papers. We do not see the prizes yet, but the prizes will come.”

“There is a lot of investment by the government in science, which is extremely important. My recommendation is teaching children science. I come from Israel and I teach science to three 5-year-old children in kindergarten. This is the future, because these young people will become the future scientists.”

“China is now making very great progress in science and technology. Also, I think science is important for mankind in the future and for the future of the Chinese people.”

As a pioneer in computational biology, Levitt combines classical Newtonian physics with modern quantum physics, thus opening a new research field. He has made great achievements in the development of multiscale computing methods, complex chemical and biological system simulation and in the exploration of biomolecules.

“China cares a lot about science. Many Chinese have studied science abroad, and the country has made dramatic breakthroughs. It is ready to open for science.”

“The potential is huge for this big country. People care about learning and are well organized. China for me is like the US was in 1935: You can see it is very good at making things, but original science is still coming up. After World War II, the number of Nobel Prizes in the US jumped five times because they had immigration. But it was also because of a new emphasis. I think China is very positive.”

Karp has made many important discoveries in computer science, combinatorial algorithms and operations research. His major current research interests include bioinformatics.

“China has become a much more important participant in communication, networking, electronics, control systems and the internet of things. Some of the biggest internet companies in the world are operating in China. It has the fastest growth rate in the use of network communications, so I hope in the future the US and China can cooperate smoothly to optimize both sides. And I hope wise policies will be followed to make this possible.”

“The potential is tremendous and will depend greatly on the further developments of university training to produce skilled technologists.”