On November 11, during the global forum of university presidents at Sun Yat-sen University, GDToday had an interview with Professor Jean-Marie Lehn, a French chemist and a Nobel Laureate in Chemistry.
In 1987, Professor Lehn was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, shared with Donald J. Cram and Charles J. Pedersen, for his work in the field of supramolecules. He is known as the “father of supramolecular chemistry.”
As one of the most illustrious scientists, Professor Lehn has been devoted to pushing the boundaries of science together with researchers from all over the world. In 2010, he joined Sun Yat-sen University to set up the Lehn Institute of Functional Materials and has since collaborated with local scholars in materials chemistry research and scholar training.
In the short interview with GDToday, Professor Lehn affirmed his belief that scientists should be given freedom of investigation and that there are no borders in science between countries. However, as he reminded us, free and borderless science also requires scientists to stay responsible and modest. The interview is as follows.
GDToday: You have mentioned that we need to create the best working conditions for young scientists. That sounds very nice, yet we see that the so-called free conditions and working environment are always disturbed by more realistic factors. What is your response to that?
Professor Lehn: Yes, that is true. But on the other hand, one has to create conditions where it's possible to ensure that scientists are not disturbed. Of course, there is always a risk for scientists to be disturbed.
I think it is important to give scientists freedom of investigation, but at the same time, they have responsibilities. If they want freedom, then they are responsible. That means that if what they want to do does not produce results, then they will not be able to continue. So, scientists need to have good conditions and then freedom of ideas, but also, they need to be responsible for the output. They have to be judged by something because they need money, and the money is given by other people in society. So, there has to be a check on their work.
GDToday: Now let's go more specific. How about the movement of academics between different countries? What do you think is the significance of international cooperation?
It's a good question. Usually, you do your work in a country because of the country's finances. But the result of it is that in science, there are no borders. I can collaborate. I have had collaborators from many countries. I have had many Chinese in my group where our professors are in Shanghai or in Nanjing. And for science, in principle, there are no borders. I insist on the fact that scientific results are valid everywhere. The simplest is to say, take a molecule of water, for example, which is very simple—H2O. The molecule of water is the same everywhere. This means that scientific results are universal, and this is very important. It also means that scientists should be modest because if a given person doesn't find the answer, another will find it at a different time, in a different location, and so on.
Scientists know universities should cooperate. That is clear. But I think most of the fruitful collaboration in research and discovery comes from personal relationships. For instance, I go around here (Sun Yat-sen University). I talked with the people, and I realized there was something this morning that I was interested in because I saw something there which might be related to some of the things we are doing. You should keep your brain open to what you learn and what you hear, and be very careful and very attentive to things you didn't know before because there may be a new combination.
Link to the report: https://www.newsgd.com/node_d36b0ef83f/df4496f3bf.shtml
