Doing science in China
Brendan Maher
Wednesday, 23 July 2008 18:12 UTC
In a China special issue of Nature, researchers and business people who have left China, stayed or returned give some ground truths on what it will take to make China a research and innovation powerhouse.
What’s your experience?
Updated 23 July 2008 18:14 UTC
-
Replies
-
Visiting med schools and research labs in Sichuan, I saw lots of new lab space filled with new equipment. In 2006, researchers told me the problems now aren’t equipment or funding, but rather are the lack of good projects and collaborations.
I suspect that the efficiency of the use of research money is lower than in many countries. In China, funds are often used for purposes other than buying equipment, reagents and scientist time. There are dinners to fund, decisions to lubricate, guanxi to cultivate. However, I have the impression the situation is changing toward more efficient use of research funding.
-
One of our bloggers, Andrew Sun, a graduate student based in Guangzhou, has posted about this series of articles.
He says fear of free expression is one of the biggest hindrances for basic research in China. And that the emphasis in China on fast economic growth and production explains why Chinese companies and Chinese research are not very original or innovative.
-
Thanks, Corie
I had trouble with the link, but I did a little digging and found it here. -
For the record, here is another personal account from a young neuroscience investigator who came to the US for training, but returned to China after a decade to nurture her own research program.
-
It is an evasive of my experience but I suggested to china opened his educational research institute to consolidate his social technical environment to consumes all his research and investigation programmed.
Aady
Wide Circles -
While on an educational trip to Thailand I have been introduced to a couple of researchers originally Chinese but working in Bangkok. As far as these people are concerned the culture is the actual “hold-back”. As Jon had mentioned –
much (if not most) of research needs to be approved by a higher “power”, one needs to make sure that all backs have been scratched appropriately…
As long as this way of going about research is used, much of the funding will fall through the proverbial holes.
-