The Global Young Scientists Summit in Singapore was a career highlight

For many of the participants sent to the GYSS by Technology Academy Finland, the summit was a true career highlight. The new connections from all over the world and in different fields brought very concrete collaboration to many of the participants from Finland:

“I met a post-doc in a different field who had a similar topic to mine. Not only did we exchange ideas and papers, but she also introduced me to professors in my field that are working on relevant topics – and I managed to visit their labs in Singapore as a result!” says Filip Georgiev, whose research at the University of Oulu aims at preventing misuse of AI.

“GYSS was a highly inspiring and intensive experience. It offered a rare opportunity to learn directly from leading scientists, exchange ideas across disciplines, and connect with an international community of early-career researchers. The discussions strongly reinforced the value of collaboration and of translating research into real-world impact,” says Shadab Heidarabadi, a researcher in sustainable marine transport at the University of Vaasa.

“Attending GYSS 2026 felt dreamlike. In Singapore I had the biggest expansion in my perspectives and networks from a single event so far. Talking to all the science prize laureates was awe-inspiring. Hearing their opinions on different subjects and their experiences about science itself was a reinforcement to the principles of how and why we do science. That was transformative at this stage of my career, “says Omkar Joshi, a PhD student in cancer research at the University of Turku.

Meeting with Millennium Technology Prize Winners

Every year, GYSS brings together the world’s most brilliant scientific minds – including winners of the Millennium Technology Prize, the Nobel Prize, the Fields Medal, and the Turing Award – to discuss the latest trends and inventions in science and how they can solve the world’s most crucial problems. In addition to the 12 representatives from Finland, over 400 young researchers from 57 countries participated in this year’s Summit.

The annual event week includes lectures, panel discussions, small group sessions, and various side events. Organized by the National Research Foundation Singapore (NRF), the GYSS is a multidisciplinary event covering the fields of chemistry, physics, biology, mathematics, computer science, and engineering.

“One major idea that has stuck with me is that we can make unimaginable progress if we combine our expertise and tackle the problems together. The road to scientific breakthroughs is unknown and uncertain, and navigating the route with inputs from several experts makes the journey more productive and rewarding,” Omkar Joshi says.

The young researchers from Finland also got to take part in a high-level science discussion event at the Embassy of Finland in Singapore, organized already for the third time by Technology Academy Finland and the Embassy. The discussion provided the audience and speakers with many insightful perspectives on how transformative technologies can bring progress and shape our societies, and how scientists can keep up with the constantly accelerating pace of research, still finding time for cross-disciplinary collaboration.

The discussion was held between two Millennium Technology Prize winners, Professor Bantval Jayant Baliga (2024 Prize) of North Carolina State University and Professor David Klenerman (2020 Prize) from the University of Cambridge , Professor Ernst Kuipers, VP of Research at the Nanyang Technological University, and one of the young scientists at GYSS, Anastasiia Kushnarova-Vakal from the University of Turku, Finland.

The discussion was, once again, a great example of how the winners of great science prizes impact the world, not only through their life-changing innovations but also by inspiring future generations of scientists.

“Having the opportunity to hear about the prize winners’ journeys at the Embassy of Finland and throughout the GYSS made me fall in love with science even more. I will be using my experiences in this event as motivation in the more difficult days when academia feels harder, says Filip Georgiev.

Other participants at GYSS 2026 from Finland were Princess Stephanie Llanos from Aalto University, Jussi Torkko from the University of Helsinki, Janina Gunnar from the University of Eastern Finland, Silviya Hasana from the University of Helsinki, Amir Talebi Sheikhsarmast from the University of Vaasa, Carla di Natale, from the University of Helsinki and FMI, Oskari Kulta from the University of Tampere, and Marlon Tobaben from the University of Helsinki and CSC.

Watch the presentation "Emergent Intelligence in Reinforcement Learning" by Filip Georgiev in GYSS 2026 Quickfire Pitch. In his talk Georgiev tackles the problems of autonomy and intelligence from the perspectives of philosophy and robotics.