"I'm going to work on extreme light for medical and energy fields," Nobel laureate Gérard Mourou said on Friday, speaking on plans for his work in China.

The French physicist, who joined Peking University's School of Physics as chair professor last month, made the remarks on the sidelines of this year's Beijing Forum, a global academic forum on innovation and human progress.

At the opening ceremony of the annual forum, he outlined the applications of ultra-high intensity lasers in such areas as medicine and nuclear energy.

In 2018, Mourou shared the Nobel Prize in Physics with Arthur Ashkin and Donna Strickland "for groundbreaking inventions in the field of laser physics."

He is expected to assist in the establishment of a new institute for scientific research and international cooperation in the fields of laser physics, particle physics, nuclear physics, medical physics and astrophysics, according to a statement from Peking University.

As China invests heavily in developing science and education, talent is arriving from around the world at an increasing pace. Fields Medal winner Caucher Birkar has been teaching mathematics full-time at Tsinghua University since 2021. Structural biologist Yan Nieng returned to China from Princeton University in the United States in 2022 to found a medical academy in Shenzhen. Yan also delivered a keynote speech at this year's Beijing Forum.

And about one week after Mourou joined Peking University, a symposium celebrating the 50th anniversary of the discovery of the J particle brought several notable individuals to China: Nobel laureates Samuel Chao Chung Ting, Sheldon Glashow and David Gross, as well as Luciano Maiani, former director-general of the European Organization for Nuclear Research.

"Achievements of the Chinese efforts are truly remarkable," Gross told the media, explaining why the event was taking place in China despite the fact that the J particle was not discovered in the country.

Though the initial discovery was made elsewhere, all 30 newly identified members of the J particle family were found at the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of High Energy Physics, Ting said.

Mourou praised China for its scientific and technological advancements over the past decades. "I knew some of the scientists," he said. "And they are interested about what I'm doing."

He joked that those scientists had been "smart enough" to convince him to join the university and start a new institute for ultra-high intensity lasers.

Mourou said that he has been impressed by Chinese students, noting that they excel in innovation -- not just in their coursework, as is often the stereotype.

More than 500 scholars and experts from over 30 countries and regions are taking part in the 2024 Beijing Forum. Topics include sustainable development, the environment and health, and digitalization and artificial intelligence.

"The best is yet to come," Mourou said on the future applications of his research.

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