The media revealed that as long as you spend hundreds of thousands of yuan, you can buy a "academician" certificate of the European Academy of Natural Sciences. The China Association for Science and Technology spoke out against the blowout of "foreign academicians", "all departments should not stand up for speculators". Since then, the good news about the "academicians" has been quietly withdrawn, and netizens ridiculed that "many 'academicians' have been 'lost' in a short period of time in China".
This farce lifted the fig leaf of the academic circle. Behind the incident, we have to continue to ask: what is the real gold content of the European Academy of Natural Sciences? How does the gilded door of the "foreign academician" work?
According to the press release of the European Academy of Natural Sciences, it is one of the most recognized and influential scientific organizations in the international academic field. However, a number of scholars who have studied and taught in well-known German universities for a long time told reporters that they have not heard of the European Academy of Natural Sciences, which is not well-known in the local area, and no scholars around them have applied for academicians of the European Academy of Natural Sciences.
After combing, the reporter found that Professor Vladimir Tyminskiy, president of the European Academy of Natural Sciences, who appeared in many domestic news releases, is also the honorary chief scientific secretary of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences. Similar to the European Academy of Natural Sciences, a number of reports have been published in China about the "election of an academician of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences". In addition, Wu Jihua, head of the Chinese representative office of the European Academy of Natural Sciences, claims to have graduated from the "First Sechenov State Medical University of the Russian Federation" with a doctorate, but there are 409 Russian universities accredited by the Service Center for Overseas Study of the Ministry of Education, and the above-mentioned university is not in the list of accredited universities, but the one that is accredited is "First Moscow State Sechenov Medical University of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation".
In response to questions such as whether the promotional materials of the European Academy of Natural Sciences are suspected of exaggeration and falsification, how to review the qualifications of academicians, and how to respond to the scandal of "spending money to buy academicians", the reporter sent an interview email to Vladimir Tyminskiy, but has not received a reply as of press time.
Scholar denies "spending money to buy titles"
In 1947, writer Qian Zhongshu's novel "The Siege of the City" was published. At that time, American doctoral titles were fashionable in China, giving rise to a number of "pheasant universities" that bought and sold diplomas, writes The Siege. Perhaps Qian Zhongshu didn't expect that more than half a century later, the story about "Fang Hongji" and "Claydon University" is still being staged.
Today, when the title of "academician" is highly sought-after, there have been many reports on the election of academicians of foreign academies of sciences, academies of engineering and other organizations. Among them, the European Academy of Natural Sciences has recently been caught in the scandal of "spending money to buy academicians".
Some media received reports and obtained a document of "Agreement on Consultation Services for the Application and Selection of Academicians of the European Academy of Natural Sciences". According to the agreement, candidates need to pay 800,000 yuan of "consulting service fees" to a media company of the agency agency to be rated as "academicians", and the fees mainly include the guidance of the candidacy and the production of foreign language materials, various affairs of the election, special recommendations, etc., and finally the media company will deliver the certificate and badge to the candidate.
As for the transaction process, the candidate will need to pay half of the fee on the day the agreement is signed, and the remaining half of the fee will be paid on the day when he or she is successfully elected as a member of the European Academy of Natural Sciences and published on the official website. The media company may also issue an invoice for the candidate, indicating that it is "other consulting services * consulting service fees".
The reporter also noticed that on major social platforms, there are also many intermediaries who operate "academic qualifications and professional background improvement consulting" services, publishing posts about applying for the "Academician of the European Academy of Natural Sciences", listing in detail the introduction of the European Academy of Natural Sciences, application conditions, participation information table, application materials for the election and the list of some academicians, etc., and replied to the consultation that "you need to pay". In addition, many netizens reported that they had received harassing messages about the invitation to apply for the "Academician of the European Academy of Natural Sciences".
According to public reports, the European Academy of Natural Sciences has been active in China in recent years, and the number of people who have won the title of "academician" has increased year by year since 2021, especially this year, which has shown a blowout growth, many of which are from well-known universities.
However, a number of university academics interviewed by reporters responded that "there is no fee paid for the application process". Some scholars politely declined the interview when they heard the reporter's intention, and then hung up the phone, and when the reporter called again, the other party had already shown that the phone was turned off.
Liu Xiaoxuan, who was elected as a foreign academician of the European Academy of Natural Sciences in 2024, is a second-level professor and doctoral supervisor of Guangdong University of Technology, and is currently the leader of the polymer materials direction of the provincial key discipline (Climbing Plan) of "Materials Science and Engineering" (first-level discipline), the director of the Guangdong Provincial Light-curing Advanced Materials Engineering Technology Research Center, and the head of the polymer materials and engineering major of Guangdong University of Technology.
A few days ago, Professor Liu Xiaoxuan responded that it was the Chinese Representative Office of the European Academy of Natural Sciences that took the initiative to invite him to participate in the application of the academician of the Academy, and then he submitted the relevant materials in accordance with the requirements of the academician application of the Academy, and did not find an agency in the whole process, nor did he pay any fees. I had not been in contact with the European Academy of Natural Sciences before I was invited to participate in the competition, and the process of applying for academician took about 2 to 3 months.
"They require a lot of application materials, and the threshold is also very high. There should be more than 30 patents, more than 50 SCI papers, provincial and ministerial awards, and some hard conditions, such as requiring the applicant to be a third-level professor or above and over 45 years old. Liu Xiaoxuan said that he filled in the relevant information in strict accordance with the declaration form, and attached the attachment of the paper and the patent certificate.
In the list of new academicians in 2024, Professor He Yigang of the School of Electrical Engineering and Automation of Wuhan University was also elected as a foreign academician of the European Academy of Natural Sciences. He Yigang responded that he applied for "academician" 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.
Get together to select "academicians"
Since the European Academy of Natural Sciences was named by the China Association for Science and Technology and reported by the media, the major official websites have taken down the good news that scholars have been "elected academicians".
Among them, Zhang Aihua, a researcher at Hainan Medical College, wears a number of "foreign academician" hats on his head. According to the official website of Hainan Medical College, Zhang Aihua, a researcher from the Science Experiment Center of Hainan Medical College, was elected as an academician of the European Academy of Natural Sciences, and was also elected as the president of the Far East Branch of the European Academy of Natural Sciences, and was awarded the "Order of Friendship" by the Board of Directors and the Scientific Council of the European Academy of Natural Sciences. In addition, he has been elected as a member of the European Academy of Health Sciences, a new member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts in 2024, a member of the European Academy of Medical Sciences, and many others.
Up to now, the above reports have been deleted on the official website of Hainan Medical College, and even the reports that "Prof. Zhang Aihua was selected into the 2023 Global Scholars Academic Influence Ranking" and "Prof. Zhang Aihua was selected as Elsevier China Highly Cited Scholar (Pharmacy) for four consecutive years" cannot be displayed.
According to public information, Zhang Aihua is currently the PI (researcher) of the Science Experiment Center of Hainan Medical College, the executive director of the Hainan Immunology Society and the chairman of the Chinese Medicine Immunology Professional Committee; He is mainly engaged in the study of the pharmacological mechanism of traditional Chinese medicine, and has published 300 academic papers in STTT and other journals, which have been cited 12588 times, and the h-index is 63; 42 invention patents and software authorizations have been obtained.
In addition to scholars, there are also entrepreneurs who have gathered to select "foreign academicians". In the last year alone, a number of business people have been awarded the title of "Fellow of the European Academy of Natural Sciences".
Fellowship of the European Academy of Natural Sciences. Xiang'an District Rong Media Center Figure
For example, according to the Xiang'an District Rong Media Center in January this year, Dr. Ma Xiaobo, chairman of Xiamen Danguikang Biotechnology Co., Ltd. and a leading entrepreneurial talent introduced from Fujian Province, was awarded the certificate of academician of the European Academy of Natural Sciences and the Order of Pettenkofer. According to the report, Dr. Ma Xiaobo, as a leading entrepreneurial talent in Fujian Province, has successfully developed 8 fist products such as deviral and thrombolytic, and his entrepreneurial project "R&D, production, promotion and sales of functional foods, health products and drugs" was rated as an excellent project and funded in 2023.
In addition, in December 2023, Li Shengxue, the founder of Jilin Tiansanqi Pharmaceutical, was elected as an academician of the European Academy of Natural Sciences. In 2024, Egorov-Vladimir, director of the Academic Committee of the European Academy of Natural Sciences, made a special trip to China to personally confer the medal on Li Shengxue on behalf of the European Academy of Natural Sciences, and said that Academician Li Sheng has achieved remarkable results in the innovation of the microscopic theory of traditional Chinese medicine and the innovation of traditional Chinese medicine fermentation technology.
However, some media published a report in 2016 "Uncovering the Scam of "Lao Li Treats Disease", which tells that in recent years, a radio program of "Lao Li cures the disease" has appeared in various places, and the keynote speaker "Lao Li" hyped his original health theory, and said that products such as "Tiansanqi Changle Capsule" and "Xun Tangqi" can make many diseases achieve the effect of "self-healing without treatment and natural recovery". "Lao Li" is named Li Shengxue, president of Jilin Tiansanqi Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.
At that time, in order to understand the truth, the reporter went deep into the factory workshop from the headquarters of Tiansanqi Company, Yongji County, Jilin City, Jilin Province, and found that the production environment of the product was worrying. Later, he went to Gudianzi Town, Shuangji County, the hometown of "Lao Li", visited the villagers to understand, and then verified through the agency that many of his experiences and titles were suspected of fraud. After obtaining the evidence, the reporter returned to Beijing and contacted a number of experts in the field of biological microecology to conduct medical identification and verification interviews, all of which confirmed the fact that there was false and exaggerated propaganda.
In addition, the private entrepreneurs who were elected as academicians of the European Academy of Natural Sciences include Hou Yunfeng, founder and chairman of Shandong Jinzhuji Group Co., Ltd. and professor of Linyi University, Chen Changjin, chairman of Qingdao Hengxing Group and chairman of Qingdao Hengxing Institute of Science and Technology, Shen Yushi, chairman and chief scientist of Feinuomen Array and director of Tsinghua Intelligent Network Computing Laboratory, Jiang Fusheng, chairman of the board of directors of Guangdong Hengsong Holding Group Co., Ltd., Wang Bowei, chairman and chief scientist of Linzhi Technology Group, etc.
Tian Zheng, the founder of Xi'an Tiansisheng Biotechnology Group Co., Ltd., a "post-90s" generation, also attracted much attention, and the press release said that "Tian Zheng, as the only academician under the age of 35, has made him one of the world's first-class academics, and has been recognized and concerned by scholars and experts in the medical field."
However, according to the enterprise industrial and commercial information query platform, Xi'an Tiansisheng Biotechnology Group Co., Ltd. has only two patents, namely "drug drug drug properties detection and quantification method based on meridian attribution effect" and "meridian quantification tester and test method", one of which has been withdrawn.
The gold content of "foreign academicians".
After multiple interviews, it was found that the European Academy of Natural Sciences would take the initiative to invite a number of scholars with certain scientific research achievements in the academic community to apply for academicians. Due to the differences in the definition and cognitive concept of "academician" at home and abroad, as well as the lack of in-depth understanding of the European Academy of Natural Sciences, some scholars believe that this is an honorary title, which is an affirmation of their past academic contributions, and has a certain bonus effect on their academic status and career development, so they actively declare it.
After being selected, the European Academy of Natural Sciences and the universities and units where the scholars are located hyped up, which is equivalent to the scholars standing on the platform of the European Academy of Natural Sciences and building fame. As the fame of the institution grows, it also drives more scholars to join the application. At the same time, the agency intermediary agency invited more people to apply by casting a wide net, and even proposed to pay a "selection consulting service fee" ranging from 100,000 to hundreds of thousands. The number of "academicians" has also extended from academia to business.
And what is the real gold content of the European Academy of Natural Sciences? Headquartered in Hannover, Germany, the European Academy of Natural Sciences is one of the most recognized and influential scientific organizations in the international academic field, according to a number of publicity releases published on the Internet for the election of members of the European Academy of Natural Sciences. The academicians of the Academy of Sciences are selected by the academies of various European countries through a strict academician replacement system, and are subject to strict evaluation procedures such as academician recommendation, voting, defense review, presidium deliberation, and medal awarding. The academy has 1,700 academicians, including 35 winners of the Nobel Prize, the Einstein Prize, the Copernicus Prize and other world-renowned science and technology awards.
However, there are very few reports on the European Academy of Natural Sciences in the foreign media, and the few reports are mainly about the election of a certain Chinese scholar as an "academician". A number of scholars who have studied and taught in well-known German universities for a long time told reporters that they have not heard of the European Academy of Natural Sciences, which is not well-known in the local area, and no scholars around them have applied for academicians of the European Academy of Natural Sciences.
In response to the information on the Internet that "the members of the European Academy of Natural Sciences are mainly scientists and scholars who have achieved outstanding results in the field of natural sciences, including Nobel Prize, Einstein Prize, Copernicus Prize winners, etc.", Dr. Georg Tyminski, the head of the European Academy of Natural Sciences, clarified that there are no Nobel laureates among the members at present, but the Academy is planning to award a series of "Academy Memorial Medals and Honorary Awards". In memory of some of the scientists who won the Nobel Prize.
In response to the question of whether the European Academy of Natural Sciences is suspected of false and exaggerated propaganda, the reporter sent an interview and consultation to the German Embassy in China, but has not received a reply as of press time.
According to the official website of the European Academy of Natural Sciences, the president of the academy, Professor Vladimir Tyminskiy, was born in Moscow and worked in the institutions of the Ministry of Geology and the Academy of Sciences of the former Soviet Union, and taught at several universities. He has authored and published numerous articles and monographs on geology and geophysics. He was also the co-founder and chief scientific secretary of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences (1989-2001).
Introduction of Professor Vladimir Tyminskiy on the official website of the European Academy of Natural Sciences.
The reporter inquired through the public academic platform that in 2018, Vladimir Tyminskiy (full name: Vladimir G. Tyminsky) published a paper in his capacity as the president of the European Academy of Natural Sciences and the honorary chief scientific secretary of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, with the theme of "Russia's digital economy and economic education".
Vladimir G. Tyminsky刊发的论文。
The official website of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences also mentions that Vladimir G. Tyminsky was responsible for the organization and development of the Academy, and until 2000 he was the permanent Chief Scientific Secretary of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, since 2001 he has been the Honorary Chief Scientific Secretary of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, and since 2001 he has been President of the European Academy of Natural Sciences in Hanover, Germany. He pioneered new forms of organizing the work of scientists (temporary creative groups and alternative non-state associations).
Official website of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences.
This also means that both the European Academy of Natural Sciences and the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences are only non-governmental public associations and scientific societies, which are fundamentally different from the Chinese Academy of Engineering and the Chinese Academy of Sciences in China. Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering are the highest academic titles in science and technology and engineering technology established by the state, and are lifelong honors.
Many people in China were elected academicians of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences
The reporter noticed that there have also been a number of reports in China about "being elected as an academician of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences".
For example, the official website of Wuhan Institute of Technology reported in May this year that Professor Chen Hanxin of Wuhan Institute of Technology was elected as a foreign academician of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences for his creative contributions to the intelligent diagnosis science of special machinery operation and maintenance and large-scale structural health monitoring technology. Professor Chen Hanxin is a member of the "New Century Talent Support Program" of the Ministry of Education, a distinguished professor of the relevant talent program of Hubei Province, a "young and middle-aged expert with outstanding contributions in Hubei Province", and a "National Outstanding Scientific and Technological Worker in Petroleum and Chemical Industry".
According to a report released by the Institute of Microbiology Technology of Shandong University in 2022, Professor Shi Dayong of the Institute of Microbial Technology was elected as a foreign academician of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences. President of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences (RANS) Kuznetsov and First Vice-President and Secretary General Ivanitskaya jointly sent a congratulatory letter and congratulatory video to Professor Shi Dayong, and issued a certificate of election and a certificate of work as an academician.
According to a 2021 report by Qingdao University News Network, Professor Xue Yang, who was elected as an academician of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, is a national distinguished expert, a senior engineer, the director of the Shandong Provincial Health and Medical Big Data Engineering Laboratory, and the chief professor of Qingdao University.
According to a 2023 report on the official website of the University of Science and Technology Beijing, Professor Ji Hongguang, who was elected as a foreign academician of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, is a leading scholar of the Peking Science Scholars Talent Program and an expert subsidized by the State Council. He is currently the executive vice president of the Institute of Deep Earth Rock Science of University of Science and Technology Beijing, the director of the Beijing Key Laboratory of Urban Underground Space Engineering, the deputy director of the National Engineering Research Center for Mine Deep Shaft Construction Technology, and the person in charge of the national 13th Five-Year Plan key research and development project.
Professor Ji Hongguang's certificate and congratulatory letter for being elected as a foreign academician of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences. The official website of the University of Science and Technology Beijing
According to a 2022 report on the official website of Harbin Cambridge College, Professor Zhang Fuli, President of Harbin Cambridge College, was elected as a foreign academician of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences. The election of Professor Zhang Fuli is a major initiative of Harbin Cambridge College to introduce talents, and it is also an important achievement of Heilongjiang Province's unremitting efforts to cultivate and support high-level talents in applied scientific research and scientific and technological innovation to go to the world and enter the world-class talent team.
According to media reports in 2023, Dr. Wu Guangsheng, founder of ECCOM Ark Group, president of Shenzhen Terahertz Science and Technology Innovation Research Institute, and director of ECCOM Ark Science and Technology Committee, was elected as a foreign academician of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences. Wu Guangsheng officially engaged in communication research in 2001. Over the years, he has done a lot of practical work on the topic of "how to promote the R&D and industrialization of teraherz communication technology".
For some universities, foreign academicians have a higher status, and the list of foreign academicians has been added to the "Academician Style" column on the school's official website. For example, according to the official website of the School of Energy and Mining of China University of Mining and Technology (Beijing), there are also foreign academicians of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, along with the list of academicians of the Chinese Academy of Engineering.
The official website of the School of Energy and Mining of China University of Mining and Technology (Beijing) is in the column of "Academician Style".
The Russian Academy of Natural Sciences has also been welcomed by the local government. According to the official website of the Yuxi Municipal People's Government, in 2021, the Yuxi Branch of the Chinese Science Center of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences was unveiled. According to the report, the establishment of the Yuxi Branch of the Chinese Science Center of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences has introduced think tanks such as the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences to participate in the construction and development of Yuxi High-tech Zone, which is the first time in the history of the development of Yuxi High-tech Zone, marking that Yuxi High-tech Zone has taken a new step in opening up and cooperation, gathering talents, etc., and has made new breakthroughs in jointly building industrial technology innovation platforms, technological innovation support platforms, and scientific and technological achievement transfer and transformation platforms.
The introduction of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences is basically the same in many articles: the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences is the largest scientific academy in Russia recognized by the United Nations, and its members are scientists and experts who have made significant achievements in the fields of natural sciences and humanities, and have important academic influence. The Academy of Sciences has 24 faculties, 18 Nobel laureates, more than 270 academicians of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and more than 30 members of the Russian National Academy of Medical Sciences, including outstanding scientists from 48 countries around the world, including many academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The elected candidates will go through the process of academician recommendation, form review, material review, expert defense, faculty voting and election, and presidium deliberation.
According to public information, in December 2021, the Chinese Science Center of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences was launched, and Jiao Xuemei, executive vice president of Zhongke Titanium Group, served as the director of the Chinese Science Center of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences. According to the enterprise business information query platform, Beijing Zhongke Titanium Technology Group Co., Ltd. was established in 2017 and is an enterprise mainly engaged in professional and technical services. However, the official website of the Chinese Science Center of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences is currently no longer available.
Source: CCTV