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What impact does the restructuring of the Ministry of Science and Technology have on university researchers?
2023-3-13
Recently, a new round of the State Council's institutional reform plan has been released. According to this plan, the Ministry of Science and Technology of China will undergo restructuring, which is also one of the most discussed topics in the current institutional reform of the State Council.
In this restructuring of the Ministry of Science and Technology, multiple management responsibilities and subordinate institutions will be transferred to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the National Health Commission, and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. The State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs, which was integrated by the Ministry of Science and Technology in 2018, will be transferred to the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security.
For ordinary researchers, the most significant impact may be this: "The restructured Department of Science and Technology will no longer participate in the evaluation and management of specific research projects
Several researchers have stated that after the restructuring of the Ministry of Science and Technology, various management departments of the previously heavily funded national key research and development program projects have been separated from the Ministry of Science and Technology, which may have a significant impact on project application and assessment in the future.
In addition, under the severe situation of striving to achieve technological self-reliance and solve bottleneck problems, the restructuring of the Ministry of Science and Technology has increased the pressure and burden on technology workers.
Ministry of Science and Technology: No longer involved in the evaluation and management of specific scientific research projects
On March 7, the first session of the 14th National People's Congress held the second plenary meeting in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. State Councilor and Secretary General of the State Council Xiao Jie made a statement on the institutional reform plan of the State Council, which mentioned that the restructured Ministry of Science and Technology will no longer participate in the review and management of specific scientific research projects, and is mainly responsible for guiding and supervising the operation and management of professional scientific research management institutions, strengthening the supervision and inspection of the implementation of scientific research projects and the evaluation and effectiveness of scientific research achievements.
Correspondingly, the China Rural Technology Development Center under the Ministry of Science and Technology will be transferred to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the China Biotechnology Development Center will be transferred to the National Health Commission, and the China 21st Century Agenda Management Center and the High tech Research and Development Center of the Ministry of Science and Technology will be transferred to the National Natural Science Foundation of China. The National Natural Science Foundation of China is still managed by the Ministry of Science and Technology.
According to the Ministry of Science and Technology, in order to solve the problems of duplication, dispersion, closure, and inefficiency in the original science and technology plan system, and further improve the efficiency of financial fund utilization, the State Council deployed the reform of national science and technology plan management in 2014, integrating more than 100 original science and technology plans into five categories: National Natural Science Fund, National Science and Technology Major Projects, National Key R&D Plans, Technology Innovation Guidance Projects (Funds), Bases, and Talent Projects.
Among them, the National Key R&D Program was officially launched in 2016. The National Key R&D Program integrates the original 973 Program, 863 Program, National Science and Technology Support Program, International Science and Technology Cooperation and Exchange Special Projects, industrial technology research and development funds managed by the Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, as well as public welfare industry research projects managed by relevant departments.
The China Rural Technology Development Center, China Biotechnology Development Center, China 21st Century Agenda Management Center, and High tech Research and Development Center of the Ministry of Science and Technology, which were spun off this time, are the management departments of national key research and development projects in various fields.
The divestment of four centers under the Ministry of Science and Technology to other departments has a direct impact on the subsequent application of projects by researchers, who need to be unified under the Ministry of Science and Technology and returned to various ministries.
Experts say that the industry itself is the most aware of the technological challenges, or bottlenecks, it encounters. Returning project applications to relevant departments is more conducive to meeting actual needs.
However, each department has its own practical needs, and with corresponding research institutes set up in each department, it may be disadvantageous for other applicants who are not part of the unit.
Not only project applications, but future assessment requirements may also change
After the announcement of the restructuring plan of the Ministry of Science and Technology, many technology workers expressed their corresponding views:
1. Professional departments and institutions with significant industry influence will have advantages. The industry has influence and also has breakthroughs, but overall the industry knows who can do practical things, and in terms of implementing technology, it will be more reliable than competition.
2. I feel that it mainly affects the research direction and assessment mechanism. In the future, research related to professional departments may be more focused on practical application needs, solving bottleneck problems, and meeting the needs of actual business work, while downplaying the impact of purely academic papers. Previously, there may have been a bunch of articles on various key projects, but they did not contribute much to the bottleneck problem, which will be reduced.
3. Everyone in the industry is aware of the level of expertise, but the main difference lies in the direction of segmentation and the allocation of resources. In the industry, professional departments are generally more pragmatic and value solving practical problems in their own applications.
Universities and academic institutions are relatively abstract, and there are more types of reading such as articles. The allocation power is in the hands of the Ministry of Science and Technology, usually universities and research institutes have strong discourse power, and the allocation power is in the hands of professional departments, which can guide everyone to concentrate their efforts on solving application problems together. In fact, it is also a revision of the SCI only theory in the field of basic science over the past decade, and may have an impact on the changes in talent flow within the industry over the past decade.
4. Basic research has nothing to do with practical problems. The current problem is that a large number of applied research is evaluated based on the evaluation methods of basic research, and nominal applied research has squeezed all research funds.
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