Science academy launches new reform drive

Amid widespread calls to reform the science system, the Chinese Academy of Sciences or CAS – the nation’s largest research body – is to reshuffle its 100 plus research institutes and change the way it rewards scientists. But details of the ambitious plan are far from clear, writes Hepeng Jia for Chemistry World.

In August the CAS announced the launch of a new round of reform, aimed at becoming a world science and technology leader by 2030. At this conference CAS president Bai Chunli said that CAS institutes were very ‘flat’, covering a huge range of fields without specialising. “The situation must be changed,” he said.

The central message of the reform, which was clarified in a document released by the CAS in late September, is to reorganise all 104 CAS research institutes into four classes: centres of excellence focused on basic research, advanced institutes doing applied research and commercialisation, big science centres running huge facilities. and institutes that will address problems specific to a region of China. Another key plank of the plan is to increase the salaries of scientists conducting basic research, so that they no longer rely on grants as their principal source of income.
Full report on the Chemistry World site