New move to help Chinese scientists spend more time on research gets mixed response
- Call for young scientists to be excused from unnecessary meetings and activities so they have at least four-fifths of their day free for research
- But policy expert says it’s not realistic, and neither is a target of young leaders chairing 20 per cent of projects under national programme
A new Chinese government policy aimed at helping scientists spend more time on research and less time in meetings has had a mixed reaction from those in the field.
In a document released on Monday, the Ministry of Science and Technology and four other government agencies called for “non-work-related burdens” on researchers to be reduced.
Researchers have long complained that administrative tasks do not leave them with enough time to focus on research, and this is the third move to do something about it in recent years. A policy in 2018 called for paperwork at research institutes to be cut back, and two years later there was a move to encourage innovation.
Scientists aged under 40 are the focus of the latest policy. The document calls for young scientists to be excused from unnecessary meetings and social activities, and to be guaranteed to have at least four-fifths of their work day available for scientific research.
But Chen An, a policy expert from the Institutes of Science and Development at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, said that was not realistic.
“It’s a good thing that the measures are getting more and more specific, but I don’t think four-fifths [of the work day] is achievable in today’s academia,” Chen said.
Research is now much broader than it used to be and includes writing grant proposals, doing peer reviews, and even socialising with collaborators if it fits with the scientist’s career goals, according to Chen.
The policy also aims to nurture young leaders by encouraging them to chair no less than 20 per cent of the projects under the National Key Research and Development Programme.