On 12 August 2025, the Alliance of Open Life Science, jointly initiated by 15 universities and research institutions from Chinese Mainland, Hong Kong, and Macao, was officially established in Hong Kong. Prof. JIN Li, President of Fudan University, Prof. SHI Yigong, President of Westlake University, and Prof. Nancy IP, President of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, will lead the first council of the alliance in its various initiatives. The alliance will establish a secretariat at Fudan University to coordinate its operations and set up a representative office in Hong Kong at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, leveraging the advantages of international exchanges in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
Responding to Open Science Initiatives: The Alliance Advocates for Strengthened Global Cooperation in Life Sciences
The Alliance of Open Life Science aims to lead the integration of technological innovation and industrial innovation in the life sciences field, creating a global innovation network and a hub for talent cultivation. It seeks to play an important role in benefiting human health and addressing challenges such as food crises and extreme weather that humanity faces. The alliance will gather the educational, research, and talent advantages of Chinese Mainland and Hong Kong-Macao, collaborating with universities and research institutions worldwide to promote international cooperation in talent cultivation, innovative paradigm shifts, and results transformation in life sciences.
At the launch ceremony, Prof. Nancy IP presented the "Global Open and Cooperative Initiative for Life Sciences," calling on the global life sciences community to fully respond to UNESCO's "Open Science" recommendations, insisting on openness, cooperation, exchange, and collaboration in global life sciences research and innovation to jointly promote human health and well-being.
The Initiative Outlines Four Key Areas for International Cooperation:
- Collaborative Talent Cultivation: Jointly exploring future talent cultivation models to meet health needs, enhancing global exchanges among students and scholars in the life sciences field.
- Collaborative Innovation: Focusing on ultimate scientific issues in the life and health domain and strengthening global research cooperation and collaborative innovation to build and maintain a transnational innovation network in life sciences.
- Resource Sharing: Promoting large-scale, compliant open access and global sharing of research literature, data, experimental materials, and facilities.
- Facilitating Transformation: Breaking down barriers between academia and industry to accelerate the transformation of research results, allowing more people to benefit from cutting-edge life sciences research.
Prof. JIN Li emphasized the importance of actively leading global educational and technological cooperation in life sciences at the first council meeting of the alliance. He welcomed and will proactively invite top global universities and research institutions in biomedicine to join the alliance, providing special support for institutions in developing countries and regions.
Building Quality Public Goods and an International Collaboration Platform in Life Sciences
The alliance will establish several specialized committees to concentrate resources and create a series of high-quality public goods that can be easily shared globally within the life sciences community.
The alliance will launch a series of high-level journals in the life sciences field, with the main journal "Vita" to be published by Higher Education Press and led by Westlake University. The journal will invite former Editor-in-Chief of Cell ResearcH Dr. Li Dangsheng and Professor shi Yigong to serve as editors. Additionally, the alliance plans to build an academic preprint platform using blockchain and other new technologies. The "Vita" series will adopt an open-access model, exploring new evaluation mechanisms to create a top international academic journal that purifies the academic ecosystem and serves the innovation of life sciences.
The alliance will also establish an international open ecosystem for scientific data, creating governance and sharing rules for scientific data. This will address compliance, usability, and openness issues related to the flow and collaborative use of research data based on existing national laws.
The alliance will leverage existing high-quality biological resource platforms to create a comprehensive, high-quality resource platform that provides convenient access to resources and technical support for research institutions, universities, and enterprises.
By taking full advantage of the synergistic benefits of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area in industries, technology finance, and international cooperation, the alliance will accelerate the construction of a regional technology transfer center in the Bay Area, facilitating the transformation of research outcomes and exploring mechanisms for the transformation of results and industrial incubation between Chinese Mainland and Hong Kong-Macao.
Global Open and Cooperative Initiative for Life Sciences
Health is fundamentally linked to the well-being of society. The threats posed by diseases, pandemics, and malnutrition are common challenges faced by humanity. Solving the ultimate mysteries of life and health while significantly improving human health standards has been the relentless pursuit of generations of life scientists.
Currently, artificial intelligence is reshaping the landscape of scientific research. In facing a series of ultimate scientific problems that could change the fate of humanity, we are more convinced of an unbreakable rule: open collaboration is the fundamental driving force behind scientific progress. From the Human Genome Project to the Human Proteome Project, from the International Brain Project to the Human Phenome Project, it is the collaborative efforts of the global scientific community that have deepened and clarified our understanding of life as a complex system, enabling precise diagnosis and proactive health management to become the norm and providing infinite possibilities for transforming and designing life.
Today, life sciences stand on the threshold of a new paradigm explosion. We (the Chinese life sciences community) hereby call upon our global counterparts in the life sciences community to fully respond to UNESCO's open science recommendations, maintaining openness, cooperation, exchange, and collaboration in global life sciences research and innovation to jointly promote human health and well-being.
We hope that the global life sciences community will further enhance cooperation and openness in four key areas:
- Collaborative Education: Jointly analyzing future health needs and exploring cultivation models and programs that can meet these needs, enhancing global exchanges among students and scholars in life sciences.
- Collaborative Innovation: Focusing on ultimate scientific issues and frontiers in life and health, strengthening global research cooperation and collaborative innovation to build and maintain a transnational innovation network in life sciences.
- Resource Sharing: Promoting large-scale, compliant open access and global sharing of research literature, experimental materials, and resources.
- Facilitating Transformation: Ensuring that data leads to discoveries and that research outcomes reach society, enabling life sciences to benefit all humanity. We advocate for collaborative efforts in the scientific community to break down barriers between academia and industry, promoting accelerated transformation of research outcomes so that more patients and the public can benefit from rapid developments in life sciences.
Humanity no longer needs life sciences confined to ivory towers or monopolized by a few elites. We need life sciences that resonate with public health needs, sharing new knowledge and breakthroughs to address health threats. Let us promote the spirit of open science, drive global openness and cooperation in life sciences, and work together to contribute to the health and happiness of all humanity!