The Study On Chinese National Scientific Research Funding System

For the "State", interventions and supports scientific research through the research funding system is essential for the protection of national interests, to enhance national strength. For the "academia", the autonomy of science is the primary facilitator of mechanisms to achieve academic progress. It is on the basis of getting funding from government and develops itself. National research funding system is a contract mechanism based on the compromise of two rules, firstly, the state financial control to safeguard national goals, secondly, maintaining the independence through the funding system. The nature of national research funding system and laws is important to the "State" and "science". This study aims to study of the interaction between national and academic perspective of our national research funding system and the actual situation, and further to improve national research funding system.In order to seize the essence of interaction between national research funding system and academic research, I study the national research funding system from the perspective of the relationship between State and academia. Based on the fact that we are lack of external security system for academic research and also research on research funding system in China, I research crossly on high education, sociology science, and policy science, and study rationally and practically on our searching funding system. In addition to the use of historical research, comparative studies, and literature method, I also deeply analyze different layers with different methods. I research the essence and laws of our funding system with system analysis methods, investigate our national research funding system operating conditions with survey and interviews, and reveal the influence of researching funding system to high education with the method of Institutional Ethnography. Through macro, meso, micro-level analysis, I find countermeasures to improve our research funding system. The research includes the following five parts:The first part is the historical evolution of the research funding system. With the retrospective analysis which is widely used in historical research and System analysis method, I find the research funding system presents in different system forms from the study on academic research with no concerns about society in medieval scholasticism to the large-scale'Big Science'academic research, depending on internal science demand, different social environment. Research funding system develops from the original form in which people carries out research without any funding, to the later experimental research sponsored by external benefactor, then to the deep scientific research which needs support from multiple benefactors, and finally to the form that the country establishes specialized research institutions and funds the science research which is driven by the national needs in the scientific era. The evolution of institutional forms reveals the inevitable logic lows of academic development and national development.. Now the national scientific funding system becomes the contract mechanism coordinating between nation and science. It reconciles the contradictions of state intervention and academic freedom fully.The second part is about the current situation of national research funding system. The study finds that we don't have Science Foundation dedicated to funding scientific research until the Reform and Opening-up. The establishment of National Natural Science Fund Committee marks that our basic scientific research transfers into the track of Science Funds comprehensively. Our national research funding system applies the method state-led funding and entrusting the management of the Science Foundation Committee or the corresponding management departments. These institutions rely on project implementation review of peer to evaluate the result of research. We have gradually formed the double layer structure "big science" and "small science" that includes, the planning layer, which promotes major national needs, and the basic layer which encourages free exploration. The double layer structure not only protects the strategic planning capacity that we have before, but also fully maintains the autonomy science. This system adapts to current national conditions, and balances the relationship between country and academic.The third part is about the status of our national research funding system operation. The study finds that national research funding system makes an important contribution to our innovative strategy. However, there are also problems in our national research funding system through the sampling questionnaire survey on the college teacher's research funding environment of56national Graduate School. The satisfaction of scholars to our national research funding system is not at a high point. In combination with the official statistical data and interviews,I find that the strength and effectiveness of funding are still insufficient. Impactive experts get much more right to speak than the others, when they are organized to provide their advice and draft science and technology plan. The result of peer review highly depends on the qualification of the researcher, administrative role, and other factors.The dominant position of peer review is intervened by administrative power. Compared with foreign countries.the spirit and basic concepts of peer review need to be improved.we need establish the unified standards of science technology project plan,make the dominant position of peer reviewThe fourth section is about the potential impact of China's national research funding system. Financial aid for scientific research is becoming more and more important; this section is an academic analysis of this tendency based on interviews to teachers, scholars and research management personals in4universities of shanghai, and an intensive investigation into research institutes and laboratories. It also reveals the cause of growing importance of financial aid for scientific research, and analyses the internal rule changes of academic community behind this phenomenon. The potential academic rule changes from "Either published or out" to "either sponsored or out", which resulted in the restructuring of social relations, and leads to potential impact to the academic system and academic ecology rules. We should continue to amend the functions and clarify the purpose of research funding, improve research funding effectiveness from perspective of the system cycle. We should guide scholars not to only focus on funded projects; they should be more concerned about the scientific value of the research project itself. We should correctly understand the essence of the research funding system, and it will not replace the evaluation system, and never enter vicious circle of advantage cumulative of reward system. We should gradually standardize and improve the incentive system within the mutual cycle of personnel appointment, performance appraisal system and promotion mechanism.The fifth part is about Conclusions and countermeasures. Based on the fact that national research funding system is a contractual mechanism balancing between nation and academic, it is vividly described as the marriage of national and academic. Study finds that in a good institutional environment, there shows a good contractual relationship between the nation and academic; In order to maintain a harmonious relationship, We fully fulfill the requirement of national strategy demand. The peer review system has become more and more important to maintain scientific autonomy. Al the participants in research funding system should strengthen their own reform, universities should not consider the ability to get research funding as a key point for personnel appointment and evaluation, and scholars should show their responsibility to maintain the academic spirit of freedom;Recently The relationship between country and science begins to experience some conflict.We need focus on the integrity and output rate of research funding system. The country should play a better role of state intervention. We should strengthen the regulations of integrity, further optimize the allocation of scientific resources and improve the mechanism of funding using, establish political boundary organization which can stands for both nation and science.