As the main channel for state-funded basic research, the National Natural Science Association should stand at the national strategic height, strengthen the overall planning of work, strengthen the forward-looking, strategic and systematic layout of basic research, combine the exploration of scientific and technological frontiers with serving the major strategic needs of the country and the goals of economic and social development more effectively, better combine basic research and talent training, effectively promote the high-quality development of basic research, and strongly support the construction of a strong country with talents and science and technology.
At present, a new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation is advancing by leaps and bounds, interdisciplinary integration is constantly developing, the paradigm of scientific research is undergoing profound changes, basic research has given birth to major breakthroughs, and transformative technologies and disruptive innovations have been continuously spawned, profoundly changing human production and life. Social development requires rapid progress in science and technology, basic research is becoming more and more organized, goal-oriented basic research is playing an increasingly important role, and free exploration is still the basic way to expand the frontier of science.
Basic research is a process of exploring the unknown, with the characteristics of basic, long-term and high uncertainty, and its innovative results are often not planned, which requires the majority of scientific researchers to work hard without distractions and down-to-earth, which requires us to create a relaxed environment for scientific researchers to explore freely. Specifically: first, in-depth implementation of the special rectification of stubborn diseases in which review experts are "greeted", strengthen publicity and education on scientific research integrity and serious punishment of scientific research misconduct cases, and create a clean and upright scientific research ecology; The second is to encourage free exploration, maintain the overall stability of the funding scale of independent topic selection projects, and ensure that scientific researchers can independently carry out cutting-edge exploration; The third is to optimize the management of project funds, follow the laws of scientific development and scientific research management, fully respect the scientific research autonomy of the majority of scientific research personnel, and reduce the unnecessary burden of scientific research personnel.
In the final analysis, strengthening basic research depends on high-level talentOnly by giving young talents more trust, better help, and more powerful support, and supporting young talents to take the lead and play the leading role, can we create a large-scale contingent of young scientific and technological talents. As an important platform for cultivating basic research talents, the National Natural Science Association should increase its support for young talents, strengthen the cultivation of reserve forces for basic research, actively support young and middle-aged scientists to undertake major projects, and help young talents grow rapidly through major tasks. At the same time, we should highlight the cultivation of high-level talents, build a long-term support mechanism for high-level talents, strengthen the selection and training of scientific and technological talents and excellent scientific research teams, improve the systematic "talent funding chain", build a large-scale basic research talent team, and cultivate and deliver high-level innovative talents to the key links of industrial development.
The author, Dou Xiankang, is an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and director of the National Natural Science Commission (interviewed by reporter Cui Xingyi).
Edited by Cui Yifei.