The World Laureates Forum, an annual gathering since 2018 of top scientists from across the world, kicked off its fifth edition on Sunday in Shanghai.

The two-day event, themed "Science Forward: Create a Bright Future," attracted the participation of 60 winners of top science awards, including 27 Nobel Prize laureates for keynote speeches and round-table discussions on topics ranging from the future of digital intelligence to the shared future of human health.

An award ceremony of the inaugural WLA Prize, a science award established last year to recognize and support eminent researchers and technologists worldwide for their contributions to science, was held at the opening ceremony on Sunday morning.

US computer science and statistician Michael I. Jordan, winner of the award in computer science or mathematics, and German biochemist Dirk Gorlich, recipient of the award in life science or medicine, were each awarded a prize worth 10 million yuan ($1.37 million).

Roger Kornberg, WLA chairman and a Nobel laureate in chemistry in 2006, said the prize is aimed to support original basic research and encourage scientists to strive to achieve more for the common good of mankind.

As one of the world's largest science and technology forums, the WLA forum was initiated by the World Laureate Association in 2018 "to promote basic science, advocate international cooperation and support younger generations of scientists," according to the organizers.

Over the past years, the forum has become an important means to connect the world's top scientists and a significant high-level dialogue platform in the global scientific community.