Is it an academic honor or a business transaction? In the past few days, the gold content of the academician of the European Academy of Natural Sciences has aroused public opinion.
On May 8, the official WeChat public account of the China Association for Science and Technology, "Voice of the China Association for Science and Technology", released a commentary article signed "Zhong Keping" "What does the blowout of "Academician of the European Academy of Natural Sciences" reflect? pointed out that various departments and institutions should not stand up for "speculators".
The article points out that the departments and institutions concerned should pay attention to stirring up turbidity and promoting purity, and strive to create good conditions for scientific research and a fair environment for innovation for scientific and technological workers. On the one hand, efforts should be made to clean up all kinds of "pheasant universities", "copycat titles", "illegal evaluations" and "fee commendations", so as to avoid giving any speculators who are tricky and drilling, and not to tilt resources to them; On the other hand, we should fully respect and reasonably evaluate the fruits of the labor of scientific and technological workers, and ensure that they can obtain stable support and carry out healthy competition.
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According to The Paper, in recent years, many domestic academic institutions and media have frequently sent "good news" to congratulate XX on "being elected as an academician of the European Academy of Natural Sciences".
The European Academy of Natural Sciences, which claims to have a "strict review process", has grown rapidly in the past two years. It is estimated that between May 2022 and April 2024, the number of members of the European Academy of Natural Sciences increased by 300%.
A search on the Internet shows that there are more than 20 Chinese who will be elected as foreign academicians of the academy in 2023, including university professors and company founders.
As the media investigated and followed up, it was found that although the "European Academy of Natural Sciences" was claimed to be established by a number of European scientists, many professors in China were disclosed to have received invitations to run for the academy's academicians, claiming that they could be co-opted if they paid a service fee of 40-1 million yuan, and some said that "180,000 yuan had passed".
A reporter found that on February 19 this year, the WeChat public account of the "Journal of Electrical Engineering" released a message: A few days ago, good news came from the European Academy of Natural Sciences, in the official announcement of the list of new academicians in 2024, Professor He Yigang of the School of Electrical Engineering and Automation of Wuhan University was elected as a foreign academician of the European Academy of Natural Sciences.
On the evening of May 8, Professor He Yigang of Wuhan University responded to the surging news on the phone that he was an "academician" who applied through the official website of the European Academy of Natural Sciences last year. "They have a very well-written process, just submit the materials according to the requirements above." As for the situation reported by the media that "if you pay a service fee of 40-1 million yuan, you can be co-opted", He Yigang said that the European Academy of Natural Sciences itself does not charge fees, but the translation and service fees charged by some agencies, even if you apply for an international scientific research project through an intermediary, you will have to incur such expenses. He Yigang emphasized that the academician of the European Academy of Natural Sciences was declared by himself and did not pay the relevant fees to the agency.
In recent years, the handwritten signature of the President of the European Academy of Natural Sciences, Timinsky, can be seen on the academician certificates and congratulatory letters published by some universities and enterprises. In April this year, he also sent congratulations to an unofficial domestic medicine and food homology industry science and technology conference through a video.
Among these new academicians of the European Academy of Natural Sciences, there is also a post-90s generation. On April 23 this year, a media report in Shaanxi Province published a report that on April 19, at an exchange conference, the European Academy of Natural Sciences held a ceremony for awarding new academicians, including a post-90s young man from Xi'an, Tian, as the only post-90s academician and the only academician under the age of 35 to accept the official award.
The newspaper claimed that with the efforts of Dr. Tian, he pushed traditional Chinese medicine to a new height with numbers and algorithms, and he "truly turned the heat sensitivity measurement method into the fifth Chinese medicine diagnostic method recognized by the world", and at the same time created a national brand of traditional Chinese medicine.
When it comes to academicians, many people think of the highest honor in the academic world. Although the selection criteria for academicians in different countries are different, seriousness, professionalism and authority are their common characteristics.
But at present, the so-called "European Academy of Natural Sciences" foreign academician title is highly questionable. According to public information, the "European Academy of Natural Sciences" is a private company registered in Germany by several foreigners, and its place of registration has even been "permanently closed".
Judging from the information released by relevant scientific research institutes and enterprises, the ceremony of awarding certificates to the winners of the title of "foreign academician" of the academy was held in China, the email notification was in Chinese, and the signature on the certificate was also the name of a Russian rather than a German national.
It is precisely all kinds of "irregularities" that make people wonder if the "European Academy of Natural Sciences" is another "Claydon University". It is particularly worth asking whether this so-called "foreign academician" honor is worthy of its name or whether it is an opportunity to defraud and accumulate money.
Of course, the information officially disclosed about the "European Academy of Natural Sciences" is still very limited, and it is inevitable that the outside world will judge only on experience, and the relevant public opinion may not be fair. In fact, even non-governmental academic institutions, as long as they uphold academic norms and take relevant selections seriously, are not lacking in authority.
Therefore, what kind of institution is the "European Academy of Natural Sciences", and whether the selection of its "foreign academicians" is authoritative, the relevant departments should also uphold a responsible attitude for academic dignity to verify the facts.
If there is indeed a chain of interests of "spending money to buy honor", it must be cut off in time, so as not to promote the "reverse elimination" of talents by false "academicians"; If the facts are contrary, investigation and verification is also a process of responding to social concerns, clarifying the source, using authoritative conclusions to eliminate public opinion doubts, and effectively safeguarding the academic honor of relevant "academicians".
END Editor: Chen Yanyin Reviewer: Xie Wenxuan Review: Liu Hao Source: China Youth Daily, The Paper, Red Star News, Voice of China Association for Science and Technology, Beijing News Review, Beijing Daily
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