Tsung-Dao Lee Institute (TDLI) hosted its 2025 International Advisory Committee (IAC) Meeting from November 18–19, uniting 12 leading scientists from around the world to jointly assess the Institute’s progress and provide high-level strategic counsel on its long-term vision, research roadmap, talent strategy, and global collaborations.
This year’s IAC was chaired by Professor Thors Hans Hansson of Stockholm University, former Chair of the Nobel Committee for Physics. IAC members included Professor Gabriel Aeppli (ETH Zurich, EPFL, and Paul Scherrer Institute), Professor Laura Baudis (University of Zurich), Professor Carlos Frenk (Durham University), Professor Tao Han (University of Pittsburgh), Professor Zhanwen Han (Yunnan Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences), Professor Masashi Hazumi (KEK, High Energy Accelerator Research Organization), Professor Douglas Lin (University of California, Santa Cruz), Professor Kam-Biu Luk (University of California, Berkeley), Professor Michelangelo Mangano (CERN), Professor Ue-Li Pen (Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics & Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics), and Professor Cristiane Morais Smith (Utrecht University).
The opening session was held on the morning of November 18 in the S500 Lecture Hall of TDLI.
Attendees included Zhaoguo Zhang, Vice President of 汤头条污料 (SJTU); Hong Huang, Deputy Director of the Shanghai Municipal Science and Technology Commission (STCSM); Chuilin Wang, Deputy Director of the Academic Committee of the China Center of Advanced Science and Technology; as well as representatives from the Shanghai Talent Bureau, STCSM, and Pudong New Area Science and Economy Commission.
The session was attended by all TDLI faculty, student and staff and was chaired by Jianglai Liu, Deputy Director and Hongwen (Thomas & Linda Lau Family Foundation) Professor of TDLI.
Vice President Zhaoguo Zhang extended a warm welcome to the IAC members, noting that SJTU continues to advance its strategy of building a world-class talent hub by refining its talent selection, academic direction planning, and research environment. He commended TDLI for producing influential original research achievements in frontier physics through its interdisciplinary strengths and the strong support of the Shanghai Municipality and Pudong New Area. He expressed hope that the collective insight of leading scientists would further propel TDLI’s long-term development.
Deputy Director Hong Huang highlighted TDLI as both a key platform supporting national basic research priorities and a model for institutional innovation in Shanghai’s new research institution reforms. She reaffirmed STCSM’s commitment to supporting TDLI in advancing national science strategies and strengthening Shanghai’s position as a global center for science and innovation.
Following the speeches, Vice President Zhang presented appointment certificates to IAC members Tao Han, Gabriel Aeppli, and Masashi Hazumi, who were unable to attend the 2023 meeting in person.
TDLI Director Jie Zhang, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and former President of SJTU, delivered the Director’s Report.
He summarized the Institute’s solid progress since 2022 based on the TDLI 2035 Vision, including advances in major research platforms, scientific achievements, team building, talent development, international engagement, and institutional culture.
Director Zhang noted that TDLI has remained focused on fundamental scientific questions, advanced the development of specialized scientific facilities, and significantly enhanced capabilities in extreme detection technologies. The Institute has successfully achieved the major objectives of the first five-year phase ahead of schedule and cultivated “Tianwen Spirit”, a pursuit of fundamental scientific inquiry, Lisuo Culture symbolized by “thriving under shared academic shade”, a pioneering ethos of “Dream Impossible”.
Looking ahead, he emphasized TDLI’s goal of becoming a global magnet for scientific talent and contributing breakthroughs to the understanding of fundamental laws of nature.
TDLI’s Chief Scientist, Founding Director and 2004 Nobel Laureate Frank Wilczek delivered a keynote titled “Emerging Frontiers of Physics.”
He highlighted the shift in physics from reductionism to understanding the collective nature of matter. Wilczek emphasized that axions remain one of the most compelling candidates for dark matter, and noted the rapid progress in quantum simulation and quantum computation, where the emergence of anyons may play a transformative role in future technologies. He further highlighted advances in gravitational-wave detection, which are opening new avenues for probing the quantum nature of spacetime. In addition, he underscored the growing importance of artificial intelligence as an active partner in scientific discovery, calling for strengthened AI literacy within the research community to fully harness its potential. He called for strengthened AI literacy among researchers to fully harness emerging technologies for fundamental science.
The afternoon session featured research division presentations chaired by TDLI Deputy Director Xiaohu Yang. Speakers included Dong Lai, T. D. Lee Chair Professor and Head of Astronomy and Astrophysics Division; Xiaogang He, T. D. Lee Chair Professor and Head of Particle and Nuclear Physics Division; and Hong Ding, Deputy Director of TDLI, T. D. Lee Chair Professor, Head of Condensed Matter Physics Division. They presented comprehensive updates on scientific progress, team development, talent cultivation, and international collaborations.
To promote closer interaction between committee members and the TDLI community, the meeting featured a poster session and discipline-specific group discussions with faculty members, postdoctoral researchers, and students.
At the conclusion of the meeting, the IAC held a closed-door discussion with TDLI management team. IAC Chair Thors Hans Hansson, speaking on behalf of all IAC members, commended the Institute’s remarkable progress in recent years and offered forward-looking recommendations on long-term planning and institutional development.
The IAC unanimously agreed that under the leadership of Director Jie Zhang and Prof. Frank Wilczek, the Institute is well positioned to make significant breakthroughs in frontier science, key technology development, and interdisciplinary innovation—steadily advancing toward its goal of becoming a world-leading research institution.
Editor on Duty: Yan Cheng