Nobel Laureate Urges Scientists to Take Risks
Randy Schekman says impact-factor incentives and visa barriers are distorting research, a view offered as commentary rather than new data.
Updated on Nov. 6, 2026 in Science — General
Live Poll
Should the US make it easier for Chinese scientists to get visas?
At the 2026 World Laureates Forum in Shanghai, held October 30 to November 1, Nobel laureate Randy W Schekman urged young scientists to take risks and pursue unexpected discoveries. The forum remarks are a call to action, not a new finding or product.
Why it matters
Schekman, who chairs the selection committee for the WLF Prize in Life Science or Medicine, used the forum to argue that research incentives are distorted, citing commercially manipulated journal impact factors and visa barriers that keep some Chinese scholars from speaking abroad. The remarks point to a broader debate about how scientific prestige is measured and who gets heard.
The source reports no measured performance figures, benchmarks, or costs. The only numerical details are the forum dates and Schekman's 2013 Nobel award year, so the quantitative claims here are not established results.
The players
Randy W Schekman
Nobel laureate in Physiology or Medicine (2013) who chairs the selection committee for the WLF Prize and researches Parkinson's disease.
World Laureates Forum
Annual Shanghai gathering of Nobel and other prize-winning scientists that hosts the WLF Prize in Life Science or Medicine.
The details
Schekman described the WLF Prize as designed to recognize major research that the international scientific community has overlooked. He criticized the journal impact factor, a metric that ranks journals by how often their papers are cited, arguing that commercial incentives distort it to benefit publishers. He also said some young Chinese scholars presented important discoveries at the forum, while some of them have struggled to obtain US visas to travel and speak about their work.
Timeline
The 2026 World Laureates Forum was held in Shanghai from October 30 to November 1, 2026.
Schekman won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2013.
Schekman predicted a promising approach to Parkinson's disease reaching the clinic within five years.
The Tech Race
Schekman's remarks position the WLF Prize as an alternative to conventional prestige signals such as journal impact factors and mainstream citation rankings. The forum's emphasis on overlooked research sits against a field-level contest over where discoveries from China and elsewhere get recognized.
No product, service, or availability change is reported, so this development does not yet affect how most readers access or use science. Researchers who depend on journal metrics or international travel for conferences may be the first to feel the visa and evaluation issues Schekman raised.
The takeaway
Schekman's prediction that a promising Parkinson's disease approach will reach the clinic within five years is a concrete claim readers can check against future clinical trial results. Watch for whether the WLF Prize recognizes overlooked work from China in its coming selection cycles.
Further reading
For broader context on how research is funded and evaluated, explore more in Science — General.
Live Poll
Should the US make it easier for Chinese scientists to get visas?
