Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biology takes social contribution as the main indicator to evaluate scientific researchers, and the key is to see how much contribution it has made to the development of national, local and scientific and technological development, and how much influence it has formed in the scientific and industrial circles.
The newly established "General Research Department" is mainly responsible for the overall design and planning, task decomposition and system integration of major projects of the Institute, the organization and concentration of superior forces, and the overall planning and deployment of resources, personnel and equipment. On this basis, a three-dimensional scientific research organization model of "overall research department, research group, and platform laboratory" is formed.
Text |"Lookout" Newsweek reporter Mao Zhenhua Wang Jinghuai.
At the laboratory of the Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, researcher Yang Jiangang conducts an experiment on the artificial synthesis of hexose (photo taken on August 13, 2023).
A researcher once told a story: in the past, he was obsessed with a synthetic biotechnology and wanted to declare a project to the relevant departments, set up a project, and strive for funding. At that time, no one studied this technology in China, and faced an embarrassment when declaring, there was no team to PK with him, no one to bid together, and the result could not be declared.
If you want to eat 'crab' or dare to eat 'crab', you have to have someone eat 'crab' with you. However, if everyone eats together, is that called "crab"? Many domestic researchers are facing such a "crab dilemma".
How to overcome the trend of fragmentation of scientific research and solve innovation problems based on actual needs? Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (hereinafter referred to as Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biology) has run through the whole innovation chain of basic research, technological innovation, achievement transformation to industrial cultivation with a new "miniature version" system, and has signed 410 agreements with more than 250 enterprises so far, with a contract amount of 24600 million yuan, into the national scientific research institutes and universities achievement transfer "top 50".
The institute has made breakthroughs in major basic innovation fields that have attracted public attention, such as the artificial synthesis of carbon dioxide and starch, and the precise total synthesis of carbon dioxide to sugar.
Get out of the loop of project applications.
There is a saying in the scientific research circle that 50% of the time is spent on applying for projects, and many people waste a lot of scientific research time by spending the time they should have done scientific research on project applications.
After the establishment of the Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biology, a rule was set that after the scientific researchers selected the direction of scientific research, they could also have a decent income if they did not publish or apply for the topic. "The work of scientific researchers is not based on the number of projects and the number of topics as a simple measurement index." The staff said that the Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biology takes social contribution as the main indicator for evaluating scientific researchers, and the key is to see how much contribution it has made to the development of national, local, and scientific and technological development, and how much influence it has formed in the scientific and industrial circles.
This kind of assessment index is oriented to the actual needs of the country and allows the market to measure the results of scientific research. To this end, as early as 2013, the Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biology formulated the "Interim Measures for the Management of Achievement Transfer and Transformation", and took the lead in rewarding 49% of the total income from the transfer of achievements to the main achievements among the affiliated units of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and this proportion will be increased to 70% by 2020.
Cai Tao, the backbone of scientific research after the 80s, has benefited a lot. Cai Tao is old and young, but he has an experience of almost not making a blockbuster for 6 years, and he does not rely on applying for scientific research funds to live. He focused all his energy on a biosynthesis technology until the summer of 2021 finally made a major breakthrough.
For 6 years, just do this one thing. Without a foundation, no one would dare to do this. Cai Tao said.
Zhang Xueli is also a beneficiary of this system. Through years of hard work, Zhang Xueli took the lead in realizing the industrialization of all-biological production of l alanine in the world, and the production cost was reduced by more than 50% compared with the traditional process. With the support of this system, Zhang Xueli's scientific research achievements have made China's related enterprises the world's largest suppliers of alanine. With the listing of the company, Zhang Xueli also became the first "100 million yuan professor" in the institute.
Interdisciplinary "Big Corps Operations".
The "PI system" ("academic leader system") is a common scientific research organization model in the academic world, which is usually based on an academic leader and leads a small team to engage in scientific research in a specific field. This form is flexible and specialized, and "especially suitable for ** text".
Once scientific research and innovation are oriented to practical problems, this kind of small team model oriented by ** literature is a little ineffective, and it has to rely on interdisciplinary "large corps operations".
During the interview, the relevant person in charge of Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biology introduced that the institute has set up a new "overall research department", which is mainly responsible for the overall design and planning, task decomposition and system integration of major projects of the institute, organizing and concentrating superior forces, and implementing the overall allocation of resources, personnel and equipment. On this basis, a three-dimensional scientific research organization model of "overall research department, research group, and platform laboratory" is formed. The research group usually has its own topics, and when encountering major research projects, the overall research department undertakes the tasks assigned by the institute through the "merit-based system" and "point general system", and at the same time, the "platform laboratory" is responsible for the development of new technologies, new methods and new equipment, and provides technical support for the project team.
Yang Jiangang, a scientific researcher who grew up under this system, felt it the most. Yang Jiangang said that this model breaks the scientific research model of independent and scattered research groups, unable to effectively organize major projects, and unable to effectively combine research and development with industrial application, which helps to overcome the trend of scientific research fragmentation, and has the meaning of a miniature version of the "new first-class system" within the unit.
As a result, a scientific research model that is oriented to practical problems and willing to sit on the cold bench has been gradually created.
It's time for innovation.
Not long ago, Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biology made a breakthrough in the research on the efficient creation of microbial edible protein. The team of Li Demao and Wang Qinhong achieved the simultaneous increase of mycelium protein synthesis rate, carbon source conversion rate and protein content, so that the glucose consumption required for fermentation of the engineered strain was reduced by 61% under the same protein yield.
Li Demao said that the protein supply of China's traditional agriculture and animal husbandry is in a situation of insufficient supply, resulting in a huge gap, and a new supply model is urgently needed to ensure the large-scale protein supply. This research will help provide safe, nutritious, and sustainably mass-produced industrialized proteins**.
Since 2012, the Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biology has innovated one after another, and key technological innovations such as carbon dioxide synthetic starch, iterative innovation of modern fermentation industry strains, and green manufacturing of pharmaceutical chemicals have been emerging. Important progress has also been made in underlying technologies such as DNA synthesis, rational design of enzymes and proteins, novel gene editors, and high-throughput screening.
Combing through these innovative achievements, it can be found that they all have a common characteristic, that is, facing the world's frontier of science and technology, facing the major needs of the country, and facing the main battlefield of the national economy.
This is a good time for our researchers to work hard. "Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biology" post-90s scientific researcher Song Wei said.
Outlook 2024 No. 06).