Exams don't read papers! A large number of good policies support young scientists to pick the beams

Recently, a team of Chinese scientists published a research paper in the journal Science, which analyzed the unique double-stranded RNA synthesis mechanism in plants. The first author of this major breakthrough in the basic frontier field, which was completed by multiple research teams, was Huang Kun, a "post-90s" graduate student at the Center for Excellence and Innovation in Molecular Plant Sciences of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (hereinafter referred to as the "Center").

"I have been very anxious before, after all, I am on this graduate project, worried about whether I can't graduate until next year without research results." Huang Kun told reporters.

Huang Kun's supervisor, Zhang Yu, a young researcher after the 80s, told reporters that because such research in the world has not yet made a breakthrough discovery, huang Kun as a graduate student will inevitably have pressure, but even if there is no result in the end, he will not let graduate. "Whether it is a student or a researcher, our evaluation has never been linked to the paper."

Since the beginning of this year, from the young scientist project to the stable support of basic research, the state has introduced a series of favorable policies. According to data from the Ministry of Science and Technology, in the 2021 guidelines for the first batch of key projects launched in the "14th Five-Year Plan", 43 special projects have set up young scientist projects, accounting for about 80% of the first batch of key projects launched in the "14th Five-Year Plan", and more than 230 young scientist teams are planned to be supported in 2021.

Han Bin, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and director of the Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, told reporters that taking their center as an example, under limited funds, they will be more inclined to young talents, "Only when these young people grow up, the institute will follow the development." He is pleased that more and more young people are now challenging major scientific issues.

Researchers do not read papers

The 32nd Session of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress voted to pass the newly revised Law on Scientific and Technological Progress on the 24th. Article 63 makes it clear that the State implements a classified evaluation system for scientific and technical personnel, implements different evaluation standards and methods for personnel engaged in different scientific and technological activities, highlights the value, ability, and contribution orientation of innovation, reasonably determines remuneration and treatment, allocates academic resources, sets evaluation cycles, forms a talent evaluation system conducive to scientific and technical personnel's dedication to research and innovation, and stimulates the innovative vitality of scientific and technological personnel.

For some scientific research institutions, this evaluation system has been practiced for many years.

"For the young researchers in the institute who do not read papers for 5 years, the research funds are also in place at one time." Their assessments are ultimately linked to international assessments. Han Bin said. Therefore, researchers do not have to care about the assessment of certain nodes all day, but can devote themselves to research for a long time.

He explained that in the case of Huang Kun, the project has not been fruitful before, and if you want to complete the paper indicators, you can also publish some small articles, but these non-breakthrough work is meaningless.

After returning from the United States, Xin Xiufang, a researcher at the center, gave up the welfare rooms provided by other cities and joined the center. Talking about the reasons behind it, Xin Xiufang said that the main thing is the excellent scientific research platform, atmosphere and relaxed environment in the middle. "The institute's assessment of us is not to publish a few articles within a certain period of time, and this model is not conducive to exploring basic research with relatively large risks in a cycle."

This kind of evaluation system for not only papers is not an isolated case. Zheng Hairong, a researcher at the Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, once told the first financial reporter that the personnel they participated in and cooperated with the scientific research projects of The Film Have always enjoyed "special" treatment.

"In the past 10 years, some researchers involved in this project have not taken the declaration of projects and published papers as assessment indicators, even if they have not declared any projects and have not published any SCI papers, it will not affect their income, title evaluation and grading, in order to let them overcome scientific research problems with peace of mind, which is equivalent to a special research and development zone." Zheng Hairong said that the achievement also won the first prize of the 2020 National Science and Technology Progress Award.

In addition to papers, in terms of funding, various localities are also speeding up the loosening and support of scientific researchers this year. Taking Shanghai as an example, it has taken the lead in introducing the "Basic Research Special Zone", selecting some universities and research institutes with outstanding advantages in basic research, and giving long-term, stable and centralized support to key areas and key teams. The first batch of "Special Zones for Basic Research" will receive 5-year grants.

Xin Xiufang was selected into the "Basic Research Special Zone" project library, she told first finance and economics, in general, basic research projects are very expensive, it is difficult to do basic research in the short term, it is difficult to produce scientific research results or economic benefits, but also need to apply for research funds from all levels to explore the mysteries of nature and life.

She said that when the research group develops to a certain stage, the cost of doing basic research is very large, including the need to solve the salaries of students, postdocs, scientific research assistants, etc., to provide everyone with a relatively stable personal treatment; in addition, the purchase of scientific research instruments and equipment when doing research also requires funds. "Therefore, if there is a relatively stable financial support for a period of time, we can liberate a lot of time and energy to invest in scientific research work, which is more conducive to making good scientific research results."

Young Scientist Programs account for 80% of key projects

In addition to publishing papers, another major pressure faced by young researchers is the increasing difficulty of applying for projects.

Xue Shu, associate researcher of the China Academy of Science and Technology Development Strategy, and Zhang Wenxia, researcher of the China Academy of Science and Technology Development Strategy, said in the article "Analysis of the Main Pressures Facing Young Scientific Researchers in China at present" that taking the National Natural Science Foundation of China as an example, due to the orientation and requirements of evaluation and assessment, young researchers need to apply for youth fund projects just after graduating with a doctorate, and the number of applicants has increased year by year, intensifying competition. In 2019, the number of projects accepted by the Natural Science Foundation of China youth projects increased by 54.4% compared with 2014, while the number of funded projects increased by only 9.4%. Correspondingly, the success rate of young researchers' project applications continued to decrease, and from 2014 to 2019, the funding rate of youth projects fell from 25.3% to 17.9%. For other types of National Science and Technology Program projects, there are fewer projects that young researchers can undertake as project leaders.

However, during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, young scientists have received more and more attention in the national key research and development program.

According to data from the Ministry of Science and Technology, in the 2021 guidelines for the first batch of key projects launched in the "14th Five-Year Plan", 43 special projects have set up young scientist projects, accounting for about 80% of the first batch of key projects launched in the "14th Five-Year Plan", and more than 230 young scientist teams are planned to be supported in 2021.

In October, the Ministry of Science and Technology wrote in response to the "Proposal on Relaxing the Age Limit for The Declaration of Scientific and Technological Talent Projects" ("Proposal on Weakening the Age Limit in the Field of Scientific Research") that in the implementation of the key special organizations of the "14th Five-Year Plan" National Key Research and Development Plan, the Young Scientist Project should be fully implemented, the scope and intensity of support for young scientists should be further expanded, and more opportunities should be created for young people to organize major national goal-oriented research and development tasks, and strive to train and train a group of future leading scientists. The Young Scientists Project will be implemented according to the characteristics of the field and the specific project. First, in terms of the age requirements of the young scientist project, fully consider the continuity and field characteristics of the "Thirteenth Five-Year Plan" work, and carry out differentiated design for the age of the young scientist project in different fields, and generally require the project leader to be under 40 years old. At the same time, in order to further support female scientific and technological talents to play a greater role in scientific and technological innovation, the age of women in the young scientist program is slightly relaxed compared with the age of men in policy design. Second, the Young Scientists Project is implemented in two ways, namely, the establishment of special projects or separate topics, and the research content and assessment indicators reflect a certain degree of openness and inclusiveness.

Zhu Lei, an associate professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University who once received funding from the first batch of key special youth projects, said in an interview with the first financial reporter that the young scientist project was very early, when they got it was still a pilot, and now the young scientist project has a relatively clear age limit, and it is very encouraging for young scientific researchers to independently undertake large-scale scientific research tasks, which is a milestone encouragement.

According to data from the Ministry of Science and Technology, during the "13th Five-Year Plan" period, the national key research and development program carried out pilot projects for young scientists in 8 key special projects, such as nanotechnology, protein machine and life process regulation, synthetic biology, quantum regulation and quantum information, developmental programming and its metabolic regulation, stem cell and transformation research, digital diagnosis and treatment equipment, and research on the causes and control technologies of air pollution, and supported young scientists under the age of 35 to undertake national scientific research tasks, without restrictions on content and assessment indicators. From 2016 to 2020, a total of 235 projects were supported, with a state-funded fund of 874 million yuan and an average support intensity of 3.72 million yuan. The Young Scientists Project piloted a good response.