Nobel Prize Winners Address International School Leaders in China about Innovation

It's not every day that someone gets to hear two Nobel Prize Laureates speak live (or in real-time). In fact, in my life, there has been only one day -- at the April 21 KingLead Nobel Innovation Forum 2024 in Beijing. Over 200 international school leaders from China gathered at the KingLead Innovation Forum 2024 to hear Harvard Professors Eric Maskin and William Kaelin speak. Maskin won his prize in Economics and Kaelin in Physiology/Medicine.

My colleague, Dani Ma'u, SMIC-I Vice Principal, and I were there to represent Shanghai SMIC Private School International Division. Our school was recognized as a top international-style school nationwide in China for Innovative Competitiveness (#8), Mathematics Characteristics (#8), and Research Characteristics (#24). This kind of international recognition acknowledges all the effort that our entire school team puts forward to bring great things to our students. It is only possible with the support of the whole SMIC team, including the SMIC company, Chancellor Flora Zhuang, SMIC-I staff, Chinese Track, and CIC.

Of course, awards are nice to receive, but the highlight for me was hearing the reflections of the two Nobel Prize-winning scholars who have achieved the height of international academic recognition. Their observations about innovation are particularly significant since their award-winning careers have embodied groundbreaking research that have had a worldwide impact on their research fields. Interestingly, both men moved to their current career areas after starting their university studies and careers in different fields than where they won Nobel Prizes. So, lesson number one which they emphasized several times is to pursue our passions in life, not just what we are most prepared to pursue due to formal education.

Innovation is difficult. Professor Maskin said that, "It not enough just to innovate, but you have to image things that don't yet exist." He went on to say, "If you are an innovator, you can't go beyond the body of knowledge that exists."

These two ideas highlight the difficulty innovators face. They build upon a body of proven knowledge, but they're reaching toward a vision of something that has yet to be discovered. Professor Kaelin explained the value further, "You always want to work with something that is causing something." It's the cause-and-effect relationships that help to move us forward. Just as Professor Maskin points out, we can't go beyond what is already known. But even though these researchers work to prove the unknown, Professor Kaelin noted, "We in academics should always develop ideas that are actionable."

The future is unknowable, but researchers must be future-focused. Professor Maskin speculated, "[In the future] I expect robots will do most of the thinking, which will free up our time to do what we do best: creative thinking." Will the future be as Professor Maskin imagines?

Thirteen middle and high school students from Chinese international schools asked Professor Kaelin questions about his research and career perspective. He noted that "Technicians use techniques. Scientists design experiments and implement them. You have to have drive. Being persistent is most important for young scientists." He also spoke about the importance of the questions science researchers examine, "Don't be afraid of simpler questions because they can lead to advancing research."

Innovation attempts to build toward what might be. Yet, the future has uncertainty, which, therefore, involves risk-taking. Professor Kaelin noted, "Frustration is part of this [research] business." He went on to say, "Medical research is expensive because medical science has incomplete knowledge." Kaelin sees a connection between our lack of knowledge about some topics and frustration and expense in conducting research to fill the gaps.

Wherever innovation takes place, we only have limited and incomplete examples to follow. Instead, innovators are on the cutting edge, trying to forge a path ahead, but they're leading the pack. We at Shanghai SMIC Private School consistently seek innovation through developing high-concept courses and physical spaces that cover new areas of study. Yet, innovation comes at both a significant cost and sometimes risk. Even though we innovate, the staff, students, and families still need to understand the innovation. Innovation takes time to develop fully. Other times, innovation stagnates. That is the risk involved with innovation. This was the purpose of the 2024 KingLead Forum that Professor Maskin and Professor Kaelin addressed in their keynote speeches.

It's not possible to lead from behind. Yet being bold and taking a risk by being out front could end in failure. Having the courage to risk failure can lead to success. We can learn from any experience -- success or failure. Professor Kaelin pointed out, "There's no such thing as a bad result, just what's true or not true." Failure and setbacks are part of the research. He gave an example where he was close to making a major breakthrough in his medical research, but someone stole all his research notes and findings. So, he had to start over. Unexpected things can happen to set us back, but we have to push through it.

Professor Kaelin and Professor Maskin both spoke about the importance of passion in their work. Each said how they were lucky to be paid to do the research that they love. Kaelin offered advice to students, saying, "We all find some things interesting and exciting. You have to find what that is for you. Being a scientist is about finding the thing that excites you. Hopefully, you find a good mentor and a laboratory that excites you."

Copyright 2024 by Kelley Ridings