Laureate on a mission

Observering progress

Currently, Macao has 10 higher education institutions and four State Key Laboratories. In November 2023, the Macao SAR government unveiled a plan for the city's economic diversification from 2024 to 2028, pledging to strive for substantive progress in developing the innovation and technology industry.

Its cooperation zone with Guangdong province, established in September 2021 on Zhuhai's Hengqin Island, has so far created 30 national and provincial-level technological innovation platforms. The zone encompasses incubators for technology firms, and research and development institutions, with about 300 firms recognized as "national high-tech companies", and with more than 40 specialized enterprises.

Over the years, Macao has also set up two national co-working spaces - the Macao Young Entrepreneur Incubation Centre and the University of Macau Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship - to provide workspaces and support services for local technological innovation teams.

Neher is impressed by the substantial growth he has seen in Macao's scientific infrastructure in the past eight years. "Things are happening here, maybe 10 times faster than in my home country, Germany," he says, noting that every time he returns to Macao, he finds much progress has been made in architecture, laboratories and equipment.

The laureate lauds China's readiness to adopt innovative approaches, which he finds more constructive than the often skeptical attitude inGermanytowardsnew developments.

In his view, Chinese people's willingness to integrate new methods of communication, payment and other advancements into their daily lives has fostered an ecosystem ripe for technological breakthroughs. "The Chinese government is making huge efforts to take the country forward by improving and amplifying science and engineering, particularly in medical sciences."

In 2019, the same year when the outline development plan for the Greater Bay Area was revealed, Neher became director of the Shenzhen Neher Neural Plasticity Laboratory on the recommendation of a Chinese student of his. It's the first "Nobel lab" for neuroscience at the Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

"I see Shenzhen as being the most rapidly developing area in the world," says Neher, adding that the country's tech and innovation hub has a highly appealing talent program that attracts individuals at all levels, positioning the city as a technological leader in various aspects globally.

He believes the Hong Kong and Macao SARs, combined with Shenzhen, have the potential to emulate Silicon Valley in the future, and the Greater Bay Area will become a world innovation center.