Article source: Instrument Information Network
At the 2014 National People's Congress and Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Academician Zhao Jincai proposed in a proposal that the country has not conducted acceptance checks on the national laboratory under construction, which has affected the talent introduction, scientific research innovation, and international influence of the national laboratory. He hoped that the country would give formal approval and confirmation as soon as possible.
The 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and the Third Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee have made significant arrangements for implementing the innovation driven development strategy, emphasizing that technological innovation is a strategic support for improving social productivity and comprehensive national strength, and must be placed at the core of the overall national development. As a national strategic and comprehensive research platform, the national laboratory is the most important "scientific research national team", which is of great significance for optimizing the allocation of scientific and technological resources, exploring institutional and mechanism innovation, and achieving innovation driven development.
After more than ten years of development, China's pilot national laboratories have achieved good results in producing results, talents, and mechanisms. But there are also some problems in the development of national laboratories. The National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference recently held a biweekly consultation forum specifically for this purpose. More than ten members of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and experts and scholars have put forward opinions and suggestions on how to give full play to the leading role of national laboratories in original innovation.
Quick acceptance and leveraging the leading role of national laboratories
This proposal has caused widespread reactions.
The laboratories in China can be roughly divided into school/institute level, municipal level, provincial/ministerial level, State Key Laboratory and national laboratory. Rao Zihe, member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and academician of the CAS Member, said that as the laboratory with the highest level, the smallest number and the largest investment in the laboratory sequence, the National Laboratory represents the highest level of science and technology in the relevant fields of a country. Its positioning is to carry out basic research, pre competitive high-tech research and social welfare research, actively undertake major national scientific research tasks, and produce major scientific research achievements with original innovation and independent intellectual property rights, guided by the major needs of national modernization and social development.
At present, there are more than 200 approved State Key Laboratory, but few national laboratories. In 2000, the Ministry of Science and Technology officially approved the establishment of the "Shenyang National (Joint) Laboratory of Materials Science" and launched the pilot work of the national laboratory. In 2003, the Ministry of Science and Technology approved the establishment of five national laboratories, including the Beijing National Laboratory of Condensed Matter Physics. In 2006, the Ministry of Science and Technology decided to expand the pilot program of national laboratories and initiate the construction of national laboratories in 10 important directions, including ocean, aerospace, population and health, nuclear energy, new energy, advanced manufacturing, quantum control, protein research, agriculture, and rail transit.
However, more than ten years have passed, and most of these national laboratories are still under construction. Wang Meixiang, a member of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and a professor in the Department of Chemistry at Tsinghua University, said that in the past decade, the Ministry of Science and Technology has only conducted expert acceptance of the Shenyang National (Joint) Laboratory of Materials Science, and has not yet carried out acceptance work for the other five national laboratories that were piloted in 2003, and has not mentioned the 10 national laboratory plans proposed in 2006.
In fact, the pilot national laboratories have achieved very good results, and some pilot national laboratories have been able to compete with similar advanced institutions internationally and have been recognized by the scientific and technological community. Wang Meixiang pointed out that the positioning of national laboratories in the national innovation system and their relationship with supporting units are not yet clear, and the financial support mechanism for the construction of national laboratories by the state has not been established and improved, resulting in difficulties in the construction of national laboratories after their establishment.
"After so many years of development, the National Laboratory has reached the stage of reflection and sorting. The National Laboratory should not only be built, but should be officially launched as soon as possible. If the construction of the National Laboratory continues, it will not only affect scientific and technological innovation, but also affect the credibility of the country." Li Can, member of the National Committee of the CPPCC, director of the Clean Energy National Laboratory (preparatory) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, and academician of the CAS Member, said.
Streamlining the institutional mechanism and establishing a scientific and reasonable management system
"It is not difficult to build a number of national laboratories with China's strength and national will in terms of hardware, but it is difficult in terms of software, that is, how to scientifically manage and coordinate essence forces to make the national laboratories become the most important strategic science and technology base of the country." Tian Zhongqun, member of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the CPPCC, director of the Office Committee of the State Key Laboratory of Solid Surface Physics and Chemistry, and academician of the CAS Member, said that to promote the healthy and long-term operation of national laboratories, three types of mechanisms, namely, competitive incentive, mobile collaboration and peer supervision, are needed. He suggested establishing multiple relevant national laboratories in major strategic areas such as energy, in order to explore mechanisms for mutual competition, collaborative cooperation, and peer supervision.
Li Can also suggested setting up national laboratories in different fields and designating relevant national departments directly related to their respective fields as the macro management departments of the national laboratories. He said that national laboratories are a new measure of technological innovation that complements existing research institutions without duplicating them. He suggested tackling several key challenges in important areas that affect national economic strategies, emerging industries, and national security, and encouraged national laboratories to explore a new path with Chinese characteristics in the development of high-tech and emerging industries.
Wang Meixiang said that the National Science and Technology Leading Group should coordinate the interests of various departments, streamline the relationship between departments, national laboratories, and supporting units, establish and improve a long-term financial support mechanism for national laboratories by the government, and innovate management models. Only by solving these problems well can the national laboratory concentrate its efforts on doing great things and become the leading force in solving the strategic needs of the country's economic and social development
"When it comes to the construction of the national laboratory, everyone often mentions the problem of the system and mechanism, which is reflected in many details, such as the problem of the competent department of the national laboratory, staffing problems, etc. It seems that small problems are actually big problems related to the development of the laboratory, and these problems can be solved only when they are solved," said Lin Huimin, member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and director of the Academic Committee of the State Key Laboratory of Computer Science of the Software Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Tanaka Qun pointed out that national laboratories require collaboration from multiple disciplines and research groups, but the current scientific research achievement evaluation system in China seriously hinders the promotion of collaborative innovation, mainly reflected in the excessive emphasis on the first author (unit) and the lack of recognition of the contribution of the second author (unit). In this system, the research community at the highest level is more willing to work alone and cannot concentrate their strengths for collaborative innovation. Therefore, he suggested reforming the current evaluation system, establishing a management system centered on competition and mobility, and a scientifically reasonable allocation and incentive system.
Integrate advantageous resources and form a diversified pattern of funding and talent support
From April to May 2014, the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) Education, Science, Culture, Health, and Sports Committee organized a special research group to visit Shandong and Liaoning provinces to conduct a special research on "enhancing original innovation capabilities and accelerating the construction of national laboratories". The research team suggests improving the central government's stable support mechanism for basic research and promoting the healthy development of national laboratories. For national laboratories that focus on major strategic needs for economic and social development, attention should be paid to mobilizing the enthusiasm of local governments and enterprises to support basic research, and forming a diversified and stable support new pattern with central finance as the mainstay and local governments and enterprises actively participating.
At present, the total amount of basic research funding in China is continuously increasing, but the problem of low proportion in the total R&D investment and the proportion of financial technology investment has not been solved. The committee members pointed out that the investment of basic research funds is still mainly based on competition, with little stable support. Researchers have to spend a lot of energy competing for resources, making it difficult to concentrate on research and affecting the formation of major original results.
Rao Zihe said that there is a problem of overlapping and duplicate settings among scientific research institutions in China, which leads to a "pepper spray" in funding allocation and makes it difficult to ensure the concentration of efforts to achieve great things. The national laboratory is the "national team" representing the highest level of scientific research in the country, and is the backbone of a country's original innovation. Efforts should be focused on supporting the "national team" so that they can concentrate on their work without worrying too much about funding and other issues.
In 2008, the Ministry of Finance set up the "Special Fund for State Key Laboratory", but the stable fund support for the national laboratory could not be solved at the same time. Gao Hongjun, member of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, deputy director of the Institute of Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and academician of the CAS Member, said that the National Laboratory should have sustained and stable financial support and a practical management mechanism to ensure its competitive advantage.
Funding is the foundation, talent is the key. Wu Weihua, member of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, director of the State Key Laboratory of Plant Physiology and Biochemistry of China Agricultural University, and academician of the CAS Member, said, "One of the key factors in the construction of the national laboratory system is to integrate research teams with original innovation capabilities." He suggested breaking the boundaries between "departments" and "units", integrating the best scientists into the national laboratory team, selecting the leaders of the laboratory and its subordinate teams, and establishing a scientific and efficient laboratory team and personnel evaluation and incentive mechanism.
Tao Zhi, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and Vice President of Beihang University, believes that the national laboratory is a major scientific research platform of the country, and its inclusiveness should be emphasized. Firstly, in the establishment of the national laboratory, it is necessary to break through regional, departmental, and even industry limitations, fully absorb domestic advantageous scientific and technological resources, and truly reflect the will of the country; Secondly, in the operation of national laboratories, we should fully draw on the operating mechanisms of world-class national laboratories, utilize the sharing of world-class major experimental facilities and instruments, widely absorb international wisdom, and build national laboratories into a stage for world-class scientists to "sing the opera".
