The Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology (SIAT) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) held its first English salon activity on May 19. Professor Aldo Tagliabue, a PIFI visiting scientist at SIAT, gave a talk titled “Science without Borders”. He described how his personal and scientific life has grown and developed during his time and across the world, eliminating the borders that often limit a person’s existence.

Professor Tagliabue speaks with Professor Vogel and Professor Boraschi before the salon, all of whom are PIFI scientists. [IMAGE: SIAT]

“SIAT has always been committed to strengthening the exchanges between Chinese and international scholars, forming an international cultural atmosphere and creating a global community,” said Zhang Hairong, Vice President of SIAT. “At present, there are nearly 50 international scholars from different countries at SIAT. We hope to establish a sharing platform, so that our people can learn about the world and experience different scientific environments and cultural behaviors, without actually leaving their home.”

Since 2009, SIAT has attracted 134 international talents from 33 countries, including the United States, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy and Sweden, via the CAS President’s International Fellowship Initiative (CAS PIFI) project.

“Building on my own experience, I can conclude that people tend to resist the idea of modifying their basic culture following new experiences, but this is a mistake. On the contrary a scientist must always increase his or her knowledge,” said Professor Tagliabue, “and go where the best scientific opportunities are.”

Professor Tagliabue is a senior scientist at the Italian National Research Council and co-founder of Achilles Vaccines, Italy. He is an immunologist and vaccinologist active in the field for over 40 years.

He came to China in September 2021. Before, his work spanned Europe, the USA, Canada, South Korea, Mozambique and Brazil, with a particular focus on translational research and technology transfer.

“Culture shock is a normal process; do not be afraid of the differences or conflicts,” he answered an international student’s question, “young people, like you, need to decide their own research programs and to translate them in practice, and be ready to move to the best laboratories in the world.”

Source: Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology (SIAT),

Chinese Academy of Sciences