On October 19, 2023, the 5th Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC) Forum on Global Challenges and Chemistry Solutions was successfully unveiled at University of Nottingham Ningbo China (UNNC). The forum opening ceremony, together with the plenary speeches attracted about 30,000 scholars, experts and students who participated both online and offline.

Professor Tao Wu, UNNC Vice Provost and Dean of the Faculty of Science and Engineering, and Professor Zhongqun Tian, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Professor at Xiamen University, co-chaired the conference.

Professor Shen Weiqi, Party Secretary of the University of Nottingham Ningbo China, Dr Helen Pain, Chief Executives of the Royal Society of Chemistry, and Ms Liqun Liu, President of Ningbo Association for Science and Technology, delivered the welcoming remarks at the opening ceremony.

In their remarks, they warmly welcomed all the participants, expressed their gratitude to UNNC hosting of the FRSC Forum in Ningbo and highlighted the pivotal role of chemistry in areas related to global challenges such as the environment, energy, and human health. As emphasized by President Liu, the Forum aims to bridge the gaps of "research-product-market", promoting innovative energy and materials, medical health, and research in environmental sustainability.

In the opening ceremony, the RSC China Senior Expert Advisory Committee was appointed and presented. Professor Tao Wu is also elected to be a member of this committee. The 2023 RSC Dalton Horizon Prize Awards were also conferred to Professor Hongzhe Sun from the University of Hong Kong and Professor Hui Wei from the Nanjing University. They both presented their award-winning research after the plenary speeches.

The current forum focused on three major topics: future energy and materials, human health, and environmental sustainability. Four scientists were invited to deliver keynote speeches, including Professor Xinhe Bao, HonFRSC, President of the University of Science and Technology of China; Dr Shen Hong, FRSC, Senior Vice President and Head of China Innovation of Roche; Professor Tom Welton, FRSC, Professor of Sustainable Chemistry of Imperial College London; Jonathan Oxley, FRSC, Trustee and Chair of Member Communities Board, Royal Society of Chemistry and Director of Humber Cluster, Confederation of British Industry.

Their speeches were inspiring and stimulated wide discussions on global carbon neutrality, energy and materials, sustainability and environmental protection, diseases, and antiviral drugs.

After that, the Forum organised parallel sessions on three topics, namely the "future energy and materials", "human health", and "environmental sustainability". Representatives from universities, research institutes, and industries sat together to discuss how scientists can bring about sustainable future development by advancing basic scientific knowledge and in-depth research in chemical sciences when addressing global challenges.

In the following sessions, Dr Jinfang Wang from Unilever R&D Center Shanghai China and Dr Enshan Sheng from Huntsman Chemistry R&D Center will deliver guest lectures to UNNC students, sharing real-world examples from industrial production.

Chemistry, as a fundamental discipline, profoundly impacts human societal development and helps finding sustainable solutions to global issues, including the development of new drugs and vaccines, researching clean energy, and feeding a growing population. Dr Helen Pain also emphasised that the Royal Society of Chemistry acts like the catalyst of chemistry discipline.

Professor Shen Weiqi mentioned the efforts made by the UNNC in developing the discipline of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering and cultivating future international engineering talents. The UNNC Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering boasts a high-level, international teaching team. Over the past decade, there are more than 700 students graduated from us with cutting-edge knowledge in the discipline and transferable skills. Many of them work at the forefront of green chemical engineering, clean energy, and drug research, with several contributing to the expansion of disciplinary knowledge.

Green chemicals and energy, as one of the key research themes of the Nottingham Ningbo China Beacons of Excellence Research and Innovation Institute, has made significant progress in technological innovation, talent cultivation, knowledge exchange, and industrial development.

Led by Professor Wu Tao, the UNNC “Laboratory for Carbonaceous Waste Processing and Process Intensification Research” was selected as a Zhejiang Province Key Laboratory in 2020. The Laboratory mainly studies the efficient utilisation of organic waste, pollutant control, process intensification, green chemical technology and advanced catalysis. Last year, a series of university-industry collaborations were launched, with the official establishment of two major research centres: the China Beacon of Life Science and Healthcare Centre for Smart Food Research and the China Beacons Institute-Runtu Joint Research Centre for Green Chemicals. 

The University of Nottingham Ningbo China will continue to leverage its strengths in international high-end talent cultivation and global resources to promote deep integration of industry, academia, and research in the green chemical engineering and energy sector, providing quality solutions to the global challenges faced by human society.