Title-driven research approach ‘stifles innovation’
China’s attempts to boost scientific research and technological innovation have yet to overcome setbacks caused by a “title-driven” system of academic resource allocation, analysts have warned.
Beijing has been attempting to revamp its appraisal process in academia to boost innovation in cutting-edge technology, an effort seen as essential to counter control measures from the United States and build the country into a tech superpower by the middle of the century.
But the current research environment, a major factor in the training of new talent, was still “distorted to a certain extent” due to how grants were disbursed, the magazine Liaowang – a publication under state news agency Xinhua – cautioned in an article this week.
Many Chinese scientists still face hurdles overcoming biases in research, where grant applications are evaluated by “heavyweights” in the field who tend to favour those who have already gained “titles” from certain prestigious programmes.
It has formed a “cycle that keeps resources circulating among a small group of people”, according to the article.
“Since having those titles naturally brings more power and funding … it has led to researchers preferring research that leads to results quickly instead of taking time for projects that require longterm effort,” wrote the article authors, quoting multiple practising scientists in China.
A scientist specialising in brain-machine interfaces – tech that connects human brains to computers – said there was greater interest in non-invasive over invasive devices, because it could generate results quickly and therefore had a better chance to earn researchers “titles” from funding programmes.
“It is not because people are not interested in that field. It is because it takes too long for progress,” the researcher, who chose to remain nameless, was quoted as saying. “People cannot afford to wait.”
While these grants provide tens of thousands of yuan in subsidies to awardees, they have also attracted attention as a window into how administrative and bureaucratic power shape academic research in China.
Two leading Chinese scientists, Yigong Shi and Yi Rao, said in a 2010 article for the research journal Science that “to obtain major grants in China, it is an open secret that doing good research is not as important as schmoozing with powerful bureaucrats and their favourite experts”.
The country’s leaders have repeatedly made mention of the unreasonable talent evaluation system in science and technology, and called for changes to reduce the administrative burden on academics.
“The current evaluation system is not reasonable. It only assesses talents based on publication quantity, titles, qualifications and awards,” President Xi Jinping had said at the opening of the 19th Meeting of the Academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2018. “These ‘titles’ have been flying everywhere.”
The Liaowang article also criticised the age caps set by some universities for young academics in applying for grants, which runs counter to practice elsewhere.
Since the top-level instructions were issued, the authorities have taken some action. The Ministry of Science and Technology has ended the requirement that scientists include programme titles when applying for national funding, and altered the evaluation framework for research to emphasise “multilevel, differentiated criteria”.
It has led to researchers preferring research that leads to results quickly LIAOWANG MAGAZINE