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Thursday, 12 April 2012
Blinded by prejudice
Chen Yiyu, chief of central government research fund, says
that despite enormously improved standards, Chinese research still faces
discrimination on world stage
Chen Yiyu, chief of central government research fund, says that despite enormously improved standards, Chinese research still faces discrimination on world stage
Stephen Chen 09 April 2012
Chinese researchers hoping to compete on the world stage in terms of scientific discoveries are being held back by foreign discrimination.
That was the charge made by Chen Yiyu, a renowned biologist and president of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the biggest government fund for pure scientific research.
“Some authorities in the West just don’t believe that scientists from China can produce world class results, especially if the researcher is young and new in the field,” he said.
Helped by rapid growth in funding, a number of veteran Chinese scientists are making exciting advances in a variety of fields.
But many young scientists are encountering a disheartening reality, he said: in the breakneck race to make scientific discoveries, they’re being ambushed by discrimination.
“You are asked to do more repeated experiments than your competitors because you are Chinese,” Chen said. “The bias has almost become a standard practice.”
In an exclusive interview with the South China Morning Post during the National People’s Congress in Beijing last month, Chen said that young Chinese scientists carried the nation’s hopes for a Nobel Prize on their shoulders and that the government is determined to back them up in international competitions at all costs. It will guarantee the most promising researchers generous funding for up to two decades, equip them with cutting-edge hardware and assure them total freedom to explore subjects of their own interest.
The mainland’s rise in science is unmistakable. The publication of papers by mainland researchers in academic journals recognised by the Scientific Citation Index could overtake the output of the United States as early as next year, according to an estimate by the Royal Society in Britain.
In the past, most mainland researchers followed pathways set by overseas scientists. Now, after spending years studying and working in top Western research institutions, many have returned to China with the experience and confidence to strike out in independent directions and tackle some of the most challenging scientific problems.
Earlier this month, for example, the Daya Bay Reactor Neutrino Experiment team, after years of hard work, shocked the international physics community by discovering the last and most elusive “flavour” of neutrino.
That was a triumph. But other discoveries by Chinese scientists haven’t gone down so well. In one case, Chen said, researchers submitted their findings to an influential international journal, which, as a matter of course, asked peers in the field to review the work.
Most of the reviewers, predominantly established scientists in the West, gave fair and objective feedback. But a few laid down obstacles, asking the researchers to conduct further experiments to back up their findings and then repeatedly making them rewrite the paper.
As the process dragged on, a similar study by competitors - friends and colleagues of some of the reviewers - went into print.
Years of hard work were ruined by prejudice and jealousy, Chen said. He would not name the Western scientists or the academic journal. But many young Chinese scientists in various disciplines, he said, have reported similar experiences.
Most victims choose to swallow the bitter pill. Inexperienced in their field, they risk their academic futures by challenging established figureheads in the scientific community.
To work around the problem, some leading Chinese scientists, with government support, began putting out high-quality journals, in English, to publish the latest discoveries of young Chinese researchers.
Cell Research is an example. Backed by eminent life scientists, it is indexed in a number of important citation resources, such as PubMed and SCI, and is quickly gaining international influence.
But Chen said the biggest challenges for young Chinese scientists come not from the west, but from China itself. The bad rap on Chinese science has its roots in history, he noted. In the Mao Zedong years, China cut itself off from the wider world, and during the decade of the Cultural Revolution, scientists were prevented from conducting research.
After the country’s opening-up, most Chinese scientists were kept out of leading academic journals because of their poor command of English. And so, to polish their language when writing papers, they sometimes lifted a sentence, or an entire paragraph, from the work of native speakers without using quotation marks. Although the content they copied didn’t affect the research findings, they left overseas researchers with the impression that Chinese scientists were thieves and plagiarists.
Chen said his foundation has been working with universities and research institutes for years, instructing young scientists on acceptable research standards.
“The younger generation has been educated to do research rigorously and professionally,” he said. “You can’t judge them by the old standard.”
And another thing that has changed is that Chinese scientists now have a lot more leeway to delve into the questions that interest them.
For decades, the government played a central role in scientific exploration. Officials told scientists what they wanted them to study - a medieval method for managing scientists, critics said. Tens of thousands of scientists, for example, were physically confined in the Gobi Desert and told to develop nuclear weapons and rockets.
Chen said government leaders have since come to realise the importance of freedom to scientists. Since 2006, scientists supported by the National Natural Science Foundation have chosen their own topics without having to report to any government officials.
Each spring, applicants submit a research proposal to the foundation and explain their academic interest to a board of scientists. If the board members like what they hear, they give them the money. No government officials are involved.
This year, the foundation will begin awarding guaranteed funding to some promising young scientists for up to 20 years. Free from monetary concerns, they should be able to concentrate on their work with a minimum of distraction. “We have no demand for paper output. They are allowed to spend a decade or two writing a paper,” Chen said.
“The Nobel Prize,” he added, “is often awarded to those with patience.”
Chen, who has run the foundation since 2004, had a budget this year of 15 billion yuan (US$2.4 billion). Though the largest single budget for pure scientific research in China, it’s still not enough, he said: the National Science Foundation of the United States had more than US$7 billion.
“We have a share of only 5 per cent in China’s total investment on R&D,” he said. “We deserve much more.”
2 comments:
Blinded by prejudice
Chen Yiyu, chief of central government research fund, says that despite enormously improved standards, Chinese research still faces discrimination on world stage
Stephen Chen
09 April 2012
Chinese researchers hoping to compete on the world stage in terms of scientific discoveries are being held back by foreign discrimination.
That was the charge made by Chen Yiyu, a renowned biologist and president of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the biggest government fund for pure scientific research.
“Some authorities in the West just don’t believe that scientists from China can produce world class results, especially if the researcher is young and new in the field,” he said.
Helped by rapid growth in funding, a number of veteran Chinese scientists are making exciting advances in a variety of fields.
But many young scientists are encountering a disheartening reality, he said: in the breakneck race to make scientific discoveries, they’re being ambushed by discrimination.
“You are asked to do more repeated experiments than your competitors because you are Chinese,” Chen said. “The bias has almost become a standard practice.”
In an exclusive interview with the South China Morning Post during the National People’s Congress in Beijing last month, Chen said that young Chinese scientists carried the nation’s hopes for a Nobel Prize on their shoulders and that the government is determined to back them up in international competitions at all costs. It will guarantee the most promising researchers generous funding for up to two decades, equip them with cutting-edge hardware and assure them total freedom to explore subjects of their own interest.
The mainland’s rise in science is unmistakable. The publication of papers by mainland researchers in academic journals recognised by the Scientific Citation Index could overtake the output of the United States as early as next year, according to an estimate by the Royal Society in Britain.
In the past, most mainland researchers followed pathways set by overseas scientists. Now, after spending years studying and working in top Western research institutions, many have returned to China with the experience and confidence to strike out in independent directions and tackle some of the most challenging scientific problems.
Earlier this month, for example, the Daya Bay Reactor Neutrino Experiment team, after years of hard work, shocked the international physics community by discovering the last and most elusive “flavour” of neutrino.
That was a triumph. But other discoveries by Chinese scientists haven’t gone down so well. In one case, Chen said, researchers submitted their findings to an influential international journal, which, as a matter of course, asked peers in the field to review the work.
Most of the reviewers, predominantly established scientists in the West, gave fair and objective feedback. But a few laid down obstacles, asking the researchers to conduct further experiments to back up their findings and then repeatedly making them rewrite the paper.
As the process dragged on, a similar study by competitors - friends and colleagues of some of the reviewers - went into print.
Years of hard work were ruined by prejudice and jealousy, Chen said. He would not name the Western scientists or the academic journal. But many young Chinese scientists in various disciplines, he said, have reported similar experiences.
Most victims choose to swallow the bitter pill. Inexperienced in their field, they risk their academic futures by challenging established figureheads in the scientific community.
To work around the problem, some leading Chinese scientists, with government support, began putting out high-quality journals, in English, to publish the latest discoveries of young Chinese researchers.
Cell Research is an example. Backed by eminent life scientists, it is indexed in a number of important citation resources, such as PubMed and SCI, and is quickly gaining international influence.
But Chen said the biggest challenges for young Chinese scientists come not from the west, but from China itself. The bad rap on Chinese science has its roots in history, he noted. In the Mao Zedong years, China cut itself off from the wider world, and during the decade of the Cultural Revolution, scientists were prevented from conducting research.
After the country’s opening-up, most Chinese scientists were kept out of leading academic journals because of their poor command of English. And so, to polish their language when writing papers, they sometimes lifted a sentence, or an entire paragraph, from the work of native speakers without using quotation marks. Although the content they copied didn’t affect the research findings, they left overseas researchers with the impression that Chinese scientists were thieves and plagiarists.
Chen said his foundation has been working with universities and research institutes for years, instructing young scientists on acceptable research standards.
“The younger generation has been educated to do research rigorously and professionally,” he said. “You can’t judge them by the old standard.”
And another thing that has changed is that Chinese scientists now have a lot more leeway to delve into the questions that interest them.
For decades, the government played a central role in scientific exploration. Officials told scientists what they wanted them to study - a medieval method for managing scientists, critics said. Tens of thousands of scientists, for example, were physically confined in the Gobi Desert and told to develop nuclear weapons and rockets.
Chen said government leaders have since come to realise the importance of freedom to scientists. Since 2006, scientists supported by the National Natural Science Foundation have chosen their own topics without having to report to any government officials.
Each spring, applicants submit a research proposal to the foundation and explain their academic interest to a board of scientists. If the board members like what they hear, they give them the money. No government officials are involved.
This year, the foundation will begin awarding guaranteed funding to some promising young scientists for up to 20 years. Free from monetary concerns, they should be able to concentrate on their work with a minimum of distraction. “We have no demand for paper output. They are allowed to spend a decade or two writing a paper,” Chen said.
“The Nobel Prize,” he added, “is often awarded to those with patience.”
Chen, who has run the foundation since 2004, had a budget this year of 15 billion yuan (US$2.4 billion). Though the largest single budget for pure scientific research in China, it’s still not enough, he said: the National Science Foundation of the United States had more than US$7 billion.
“We have a share of only 5 per cent in China’s total investment on R&D,” he said. “We deserve much more.”
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