Editorial Cite This: Chem. Mater. 2018, 30, 3929−3930
pubs.acs.org/cm
What Is Driving the Acceleration of Materials Science in China?
Downloaded via 80.82.77.83 on June 30, 2018 at 17:44:26 (UTC). See https://pubs.acs.org/sharingguidelines for options on how to legitimately share published articles.
M
aterials science, which sits squarely in the center of chemistry, physics, and engineering, is now entering into a new “golden” age of research and development. The significant contributions from China cannot be neglected. Somewhat like the rapid development of China’s economy, research in this old country in the areas of nanoscience to engineering is also evolving in amazing ways. Indeed, several factors may contribute to this trend and will be discussed here. Funding is one of the most important factors that enables the progress of fundamental research, a point certainly agreed upon by most scientists. In the past decade, more funding calls from not only the national level, but also the provincial level and even the local government, have been announced in China. The total input for research and development (R&D) in 2017 in China reached 1728 billion RMB with ∼20% supporting government institutes and universities, Figure 1, an Figure 2. Pengfei Zhang, in front of the gate of Shanghai Jiao Tong University.
High quality scientists are vital for the development of high quality research. The evolution of the background of scientists in China, with respect to both education and research experience, is contributing to the rise of a very creative community. Even President Jinping Xi has a degree in Chemical Engineering. After the introduction of the reform and policies that opened the educational system in 1978, many Chinese students chose to pursue their Ph.D., postdoctoral, or even undergraduate degrees in the famous universities or institutes worldwide. After ∼2000, however, increasingly attractive research and living conditions in China attracted a number of young Chinese scientists back to China, as shown in Figure 3. In addition, many special programs calling for high level scientists from abroad such as the Hundred Talent Program, Thousand Talent Program (TTP), Shanghai Pujiang Program, Shenzhen Kongque Program, Zhejiang Qianjiang Program, and the Guangdong Zhujiang Program were set up.
Figure 1. Total inputs for research and development (R&D) in China in 2017.
increase of 11.6%.1,2 The acceptance rate of applications for funding by researchers in China is moderate, pointing to increasing competition and high standards. For example, ∼20% of the applications to programs offered by the Material Sciences of National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) are supported. As an example, the average funding of a full professor in the Schools of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at Shanghai Jiao Tong University is ∼1.6 million RMB/year (Figure 2). Importantly, the tuition fees and salaries of Ph.D. students and postdoctoral associates are directly covered by Chinese government and thus do not come from grants. To contrast, most research funds in United States, Europe, and Canada are spent on personnel, such as Ph.D. (e.g., ∼20−40K USD/year) or postdoctoral (e.g., ∼30−60K USD/year) salaries, while funds in China are used for research only, including the purchase of new instruments, laboratory supplies, analytical fees, conferences travel, etc. Hence, it is understandable that funding in China is serving scientific research well. © 2018 American Chemical Society
Figure 3. Numbers of Chinese students that go back to China from abroad. Published: June 26, 2018 3929
DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemmater.8b02375 Chem. Mater. 2018, 30, 3929−3930
Chemistry of Materials
Editorial
TTP is an attractive one that was initiated ∼2010. Start-up packages above 1 million USD for three years are typical for young scientists who are selected into the TTP. As a result, the quality of Chinese scientists is growing; for example, from 2001 to 2016, the total number of Highly Cited Researchers with a primary affiliation in China increased dramatically, from only 7 in 2001, to 112 in 2014, and to 134 in 2016. Increasing competition within Chinese society strongly influences research in Chinese universities and institutes. Chinese scientists including Ph.D. students, postdoctoral associates, and professors work very hard. Some scientists work in the evenings and at night, with many continuing their research on the weekends. Many highly regarded conferences are held out in China, which significantly promotes discussion and corporation between Chinese and worldwide scientists. In my field, the 16th International Congress on Catalysis took pace in Beijing, China, and was attended by ∼8000 scientists from around the world. Private universities have just started emerging in China in recent years and are the next potential platforms for advanced research. Although rapid progress regarding material science has been made by Chinese scientists, many issues such as deep theory, detailed mechanisms, and large-scale commercialization remain, which are encouraged to be solved in the next stages of growth. To summarize, rapid changes in Chinese society and very strong support from the Chinese government for research in general, and in particular in materials science, are enabling both high quality and a large quantity of research. It is an exciting time for science in China.
Pengfei Zhang*
■
School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
AUTHOR INFORMATION
Corresponding Author
*E-mail:
[email protected]. ORCID
Pengfei Zhang: 0000-0001-7559-7348 Notes
Views expressed in this editorial are those of the author and not necessarily the views of the ACS.
■
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS P.F.Z. acknowledges Shanghai Pujiang Program (Grant No. 17PJ1403500), Thousand Talent Program, and National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 21776174) for the support.
■
REFERENCES
(1) https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-economy-r-d/chinaspends-279-bln-on-rd-in-2017-science-minister-idUSKCN1GB018. (2) http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201802/13/ WS5a827ffea3106e7dcc13c829.html.
3930
DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemmater.8b02375 Chem. Mater. 2018, 30, 3929−3930
