would cater to middle- or high-school students. But in this case, “young” meant post-doctoral researchers and Ph.D. students from myriad fields, all under the age of 35. The NRF, which funded the entire summit (estimated to have cost approximately $1 million U.S. — part of the $13.1 billion in public spending that Singapore has devoted to R&D between 2011–2015), put out a call for delegates to universities and other educational institutions with a significant presence in Singapore or a strong relationship with local research

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institutions, such as Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technol- ogy, and Research (A*STAR); Nanyang Technological Uni- versity (NTU); and Singapore University of Technology and Design. Institutions then nominated their young scientists to attend GYSS; participants hailed from all over the globe, with about 60 percent coming from various countries in Asia. But GYSS — which was themed “Advancing Science, Cre-

ating Technologies for a Better World” — attracted more than just young researchers. Speakers and presenters included 11

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