Outlook ｜ release the greatest scientific research potential
The Youth Promotion Association gives young people a lot of room for trial and error and opportunities for growth, and can "act as an advance guard" for participating in major research later.
The system of "revealing the list and taking the lead" breaks the traditional way of declaring and distributing scientific research projects, allowing more scientific research teams and individuals to participate in the competition. This way can stimulate the innovative spirit and enthusiasm of scientific researchers, and really let the capable go up and down.
The Institute of Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has formulated special policies for the development of young talents, including allowing outstanding associate researchers to independently open topics and establishing a system for selecting doctoral supervisors for associate researchers, so as to clear the way for associate researchers to set up teams.
Text | "Outlook" News Weekly reporter Hu Yongshun
China is becoming an increasingly important member of the global innovation landscape, in which young scientific and technological talents are the main force of scientific and technological innovation. Young researchers need knowledge accumulation and preparation to grow into high-level researchers, but many fledgling young researchers are unable to undertake major scientific research projects independently and need to grow up through project experience. How to solve this contradiction in the initial stage of scientific research? In the process of scientific research, what kind of implementation and evaluation methods of scientific and technological projects can accelerate the growth of young scientific research talents? How to create an environment that can continuously stimulate the innovation vitality of scientific research talents?
In the laboratory of Zhongke Micro-Precision Headquarters in Xi ‘an, Yang Xiaojun (right), the founder of Zhongke Micro-Precision, is adjusting the experimental equipment (photo taken on January 17, 2024).
Over the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, occasionally there will be "Great White Whale" flying over layers of snow-capped mountains, which is the figure of "Jimu No.1" type III floating boat. Yang Yanchu, a researcher at the Institute of Aerospace Information Innovation, China Academy of Sciences, is the head of the research and development of the type III floating boat "Jimu-1".
With the support of the Youth Innovation Promotion Association of Chinese Academy of Sciences (hereinafter referred to as "Youth Promotion Association"), Yang Yanchu led a team with an average age of about 35 to take the lead in pioneering a new direction of high-altitude launch in China. On May 21st, 2022, the altitude of the third type of "Jimu-1" reached 9050 meters, breaking the world record of the observation altitude of the same type of aerostat, and obtaining the key scientific data of the atmospheric water vapor transmission and the vertical variation of greenhouse gases in the Everest region.
The Youth Promotion Association, which sponsored Yang Yanchu, was established by China Academy of Sciences in 2011. The participants are outstanding young talents under the age of 35 with outstanding innovation ability and development potential. After the young researchers have successfully joined the membership after the defense selection, they can carry out cross-disciplinary and interdisciplinary exchanges and cooperation by using the comprehensive support measures such as "talent project support+scientific research exchange platform" of the Youth Promotion Association.
From the perspective of talent project support, the member’s implementation period is 4 years, and 800,000 yuan of talent special funds are given, which are mainly used for academic exchanges, training and personnel expenses related to members. After the end of the implementation period, all units will evaluate the member organizations, and those who have outstanding performance, strong innovation ability and development potential, good organizational ability and can independently carry out research work will become outstanding members after evaluation. The implementation period of outstanding members will be postponed for three years, and special funds of 2 million to 4 million yuan will continue to be supported, which will be mainly used for scientific research projects, small-scale instruments and equipment purchase, visits and exchanges and personnel expenses. By the end of 2022, the Youth Promotion Association has reached 5,503 members, which is the backbone of young researchers of China Academy of Sciences, among whom 758 outstanding members have been selected.
Yang Yanchu introduced that the talent project support policy of the Youth Promotion Association gave young researchers the opportunity to explore freely, and there was no hard and fast condition when they finished the topic. They only needed to give a research report according to their own research direction, which gave young people a lot of trial and error space and growth opportunities, and they could "make an advance stand" for participating in major research later.
From the perspective of scientific research exchange platform, the Youth Promotion Association has built a platform for young people to learn and exchange according to disciplines and specialties, which has six disciplines, including mathematical science, chemical materials and life science, involving eight major innovation fields and key directions, such as basic frontier intersection, advanced materials and energy. On the one hand, by regularly organizing academic salons and inviting small colleagues to give special reports, researchers are encouraged to focus on their own research fields and achieve the effect of deep academic cultivation. On the other hand, it also makes up for the academic shortcomings of researchers and inspires cross-domain thinking by organizing multidisciplinary academic research and cross-disciplinary interaction from time to time, which helps researchers effectively acquire new knowledge, even new methods and theories suitable for their academic research in the information explosion, and eliminates the limitations of thinking to a certain extent.
Qiao Zengying, a researcher at the National Nanoscience Center, told reporters that with the support of the Youth Promotion Association, she has carried out systematic and in-depth research on the biological application of nanomaterials, made breakthrough progress in the field of self-assembly of polypeptide materials, published more than 20 high-level papers, and gradually promoted to clinical application. Recently, as one of the correspondent authors, she also reported for the first time the intrinsic strain-mediated ultra-thin cerium oxide nano-antioxidant. This strategy not only provides a solid foundation for guiding the design of high-performance antioxidant nano-enzyme at the atomic level, but also provides great potential for the future clinical transformation of cerium oxide nano-enzyme with high efficiency and low toxicity in nervous system diseases. In addition, as the leader of the Youth Promotion Association of the National Nanoscience Center, Qiao Zengying organized and held a series of forum meetings for young scholars, which enhanced his academic organization and appeal and laid the foundation for becoming an academic leader.
In order to help more young scientific research talents like Yang Yanchu and Qiao Zengying grow sturdily, various grass-roots scientific research units have issued a series of policies. For example, in order to attract and retain young talents, the Institute of Aerospace Information Innovation of China Academy of Sciences, where Yang Yanchu works, has set up the "Future Star Talent Plan" for outstanding young scientific research talents under the age of 35 with development potential, formulated the "Implementation Measures for Training Outstanding Young Talents" and set up special subsidies for various talents.
On March 5, the first "ministerial channel" centralized interview activity of the second session of the 14th National People’s Congress was held in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. This is an interview with the media by Yin Hejun, Minister of Science and Technology.
The list of intelligent algorithm research has entered the deep water area, and the list of a micro computing control module has been designed and put into production … At the end of 2023, an exhibition of "unveiling the list" was held in the Second Department of China Institute of Aerospace Science and Technology.
Focusing on the "stuck neck" problem and key core technologies, the Second Department of the Second Hospital of the Second Hospital released five key research list topics by setting the list, releasing the list and revealing the list. The setting of the list topics is both "difficult" and "feasible", and at the same time conforms to the characteristics of youth innovation. In view of the "hard bone" problems that may be encountered in the current and future development of the Second Department of the Second Hospital of the Second Hospital, the whole link from demand to innovation to application is realized.
The system of "revealing the list" breaks the traditional way of declaration and distribution of scientific research projects, allows more scientific research teams and individuals to participate in the competition, stimulates the innovative spirit and enthusiasm of scientific researchers, and makes the capable go up and down, thus promoting scientific research innovation. Moreover, through the system of "unveiling the list", excellent scientific research teams and individuals can get more scientific research resources and financial support, thus realizing the optimal allocation of scientific research resources, helping to solve the problems of unfair distribution and low utilization efficiency of scientific research resources and improving the overall efficiency of scientific research.
The reform of the declaration system for scientific and technological projects such as "unveiling the list" is slowly unfolding. For example, in 2021, the Ministry of Science and Technology issued the "Guidelines for the Declaration of Key Projects of the Tenth Five-Year Plan" such as "Mathematics and Applied Research", and the template of "unveiling the list" was released as a separate annex with the guidelines.
"This is the first time that China has set up a key research project in the field of mathematics, and has released a list of" revealing the list ",which focuses on major application scenarios such as performance prediction of satellite electromechanical systems, and strives to make breakthroughs in solving deep-seated mathematical problems that restrict technological development. The implementation of’ revealing the list’ will promote the cooperation between the mathematics community and enterprises, encourage mathematicians to solve the problem of’ sticking their necks’ in enterprises, and promote the application of mathematics in practice. " Yuan Yaxiang, member of the Standing Committee of Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and academician of China Academy of Sciences, said.
Wei Mingying, member of Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and researcher of the Second Academy of China Aerospace Science and Technology, said that the implementation of "revealing the list and taking the lead" is the need to realize high-level scientific and technological self-reliance and self-improvement, and it is also an important measure to stimulate the innovative vitality of young talents. In the list released by the Second Department of the Second Hospital, some topics are the advanced exploration of the original engineering research content, which is mainly aimed at young talents, which is in line with the characteristics of young researchers’ stronger innovation ability; Some topics are common problems of multi-projects, and the mechanism of "revealing the list and taking the lead" can break the original team system and unite teams to give full play to their respective advantages to break through the problems.
In 2022, the Ministry of Science and Technology and other eight departments jointly issued the "Work Plan on Piloting the Evaluation Reform of Scientific and Technological Talents", which carried out the pilot reform of scientific and technological talents in 6 provinces and cities and 21 scientific research institutions, and solved the outstanding problems such as the "new standard", the innovation of evaluation methods, the reform of resource allocation evaluation and the construction of employer evaluation system after the "four talents" were broken.
In 2023, China Academy of Sciences, as the competent department of the pilot unit, formulated the guiding norms and pilot scheme for the reform of talent classification and evaluation, and divided scientific research activities into four categories: original and frontier-oriented basic scientific research, demand-and application-oriented technical scientific research, institutionalized engineering technical research oriented by major national strategies and systems engineering, and scientific and technological support. Classified management has clarified the evaluation orientation, improved the evaluation standards, methods and mechanisms, and made an important step to explore the talent classification evaluation system in line with the reality of China Academy of Sciences.
As a pilot unit, the Institute of Physics of Chinese Academy of Sciences formulated a pilot implementation plan for the reform of classification and evaluation of scientific and technological talents in May 2023. For basic scientific research talents, implement an evaluation system of no more than three high-quality representative works; For technical and scientific research talents, implement a representative achievement evaluation system such as a key technology or a high-quality patent; For engineering and technical research talents, focus on evaluating the completion of major national tasks and the construction and operation of facilities, and break through the actual contribution and innovation value of key core technologies; For the talents who support science and technology, the focus is on evaluating the performance, irreplaceability and satisfaction of the clients.
In addition, in the exploration of improving the ability of independent evaluation of talents in scientific research units, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics of Chinese Academy of Sciences has launched a "combination of qualitative and quantitative" evaluation system that can be implemented and operated, exploring and solving the difficulty of scientific research evaluation.
Liu Zhongmin, an academician of China Academy of Engineering and director of Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, said that the main idea of the evaluation of the institute is not to count papers or look at funds, but to see whether the research results are "indomitable". The Institute adopts a unified evaluation platform, with the academic committee as the core, and more than 30 members are selected from more than 200 researchers in the Institute, with young people under 45 accounting for a certain proportion, covering different age groups and disciplines. Committees composed of high-level scientists are more qualitative when evaluating whether the research is more forward-looking and potential, such as whether the basic research represents the forefront of the world and whether it produces innovative results; Applied research depends on whether it has been industrialized and whether it has effectively solved the needs of enterprises.
"At present, scientific and technological workers will still be affected by some red tape, and they still have to spend a lot of energy on many evaluations and appraisals. The phenomena of quick success and instant benefit and impetuous style of study still exist. The scientific nature of the scientific research management system and mechanism needs to be further improved. " Yuan Yaxiang said.
For example, some units usually use the experience of "gilding" overseas study as a hard lever when recruiting and promoting scientific researchers, which artificially reduces the "gold content" of "local" scientific research talents. The Center for Excellence and Innovation in Brain Science and Intelligent Technology of China Academy of Sciences (hereinafter referred to as "Center for Excellence in Brain Intelligence") has issued a series of policies to smooth the growth of young talents, breaking the restriction of overseas employment experience.
After participating in the two "Ten Advances in China Science" projects, namely, the autism model of nonhuman primates and somatic cloned monkeys, Serina Liu, 30, was hired as a researcher by the Center for Excellence in Brain Intelligence as a "local postdoctoral fellow", becoming the youngest research team leader of the Center at that time, and repeatedly seized the commanding heights of international nonhuman primate model animal in building science and technology. Similar to Serina Liu’s experience, researcher Gong Neng, the leader of the social cognition research group of psychosomatic primates with excellent brain and intelligence, and researcher Sun Qiang, the director of the non-human primate research platform, were successfully promoted to researchers as "native" and grew into leading talents in scientific research because of their outstanding scientific research.
The Institute of Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has formulated special policies for the development of young talents, including allowing outstanding associate researchers to independently open topics and establishing a system for selecting and supervising associate researchers, so as to clear the way for associate researchers to set up teams. Even if you are only an associate researcher, you can choose your own direction and be the project leader.
For some colleges and universities to solve the problem of young researchers’ "promotion or leaving", relying on the Beijing National Research Center for Condensed Physics established by the Institute of Physics of Chinese Academy of Sciences to create an ecology conducive to devoted research, new researchers do not need to accept any assessment within 6 years, and their salary is annual, and they are equipped with sufficient start-up funds and team support. Then, after 6 years, if the assessment fails, is it "either promotion or departure"? The answer is also no.