1. BACIGROUND
With the development of
science and technology, the significant promoting function
and strategic impacts of basic research on the national
economic and social development have arouse great attention
form all the countries in the world. As a developing
country, China should pay more attention to key research
fields and concentrating her resources to important projects
so as to better use the limited funds. Therefore, the
government of China has set up the Climbing Programme to
include the key projects in basic research that are
relatively mature in research conditions, concerned with the
overall situation of and play a promoting function to the
national development and scientific and technological
advancement, and the programme is implemented as a mission
orientated programme of the state. The implementation of the
Climbing Programme started in 1991 and 45 projects have been
included in the programme in succession, involving 30 basic
research projects (Climbing A) and 15 application basic
research projects (Climbing B). The Climbing Programme is
funded by the state appropriation and each project in the
Eighth Five year Plan period received 1million yuan
annually.
II BASIC NATURE AND
PURPOSES
The Climbing Programme is organized
and implemented as a programme of key projects for the basic
research of the country, aimed at the subjects that are
concerned with the overall situation of and play a promoting
function to the scientific and technological, economic and
social development of the country, With this programme the
state selects the projects with important scientific value
or application prospects, organizes research teams. Small in
number but highly capable, for basic research and provides
them with relatively high investment intensity and
sustained, stable support so as to concentrate resources and
make break through progress in some fields while supporting
basic research through the approaches of scientific
foundation, etc .. The implementation of the Climbing
Programme is of great significance to promoting the national
development and the scientific and technological advancement
and realizing the state objectives in basic
research.
III. GUIDING PRINCIPLES
The guiding principles of the programme is to
give high priority to studying the basic theory and
technological basis of vital , key problems in the national
economic and social development, closely aimed at the state
objectives in basic research; considering the trend of
scientific development and based on the principle of
"catching up with the advanced level in the world in
selected fields", form the thinking of emphasizing
quality of research achievements in basic research, stress
the focal points and emphatically support innovative studies
so as to contribute to the promotion of the level of basic
research in China.
IV. OVERALL
GOALS
1. Organize outstanding teams to probe
into new theories and methods, strive by every means to make
contribution to the development of scientific frontiers and
work out a batch of high level achievements, aimed at the
vital problems in the national economic and social
development in China in the early period of next century .
2. View from the angle of long term
development and pay attention to the combination with the
overall work of construction of research bases. Select the
national laboratories, sectoral open laboratories and
outstanding scientific engineering projects of high research
level and highly qualified research teams to assume the
projects of the Climbing Programme, and pay attention to
giving full play to the their mainstay function in basic
research.
3. Promote the adjustment of
disciplines and the development of cross disciplines. Carry
out comprehensive studies of multiple disciplines around the
problems of the projects of the Climbing Programme. Promote
the structural adjustment of basic sciences in China by use
of the mutual overlapping and penetration function of
different disciplines in climbing programme.
V.
THE MAIN CONTENTS
The priority fields of
development in the Ninth Five year Plan period include the
life science, information science, materials science, energy
science and environmental science. At the same time,
attention will also be paid to supporting and strengthening
the research on important theories in the field of basic
sciences and on the frontier of science. Research on
mathematics will be strengthened. Therefore, about 60 vital,
key projects of basic research with great scientific
significance and important application prospects with be
continued during the Ninth Five year Plan period, each with
an annual investment of about 2 million yuan on the average.
A project of Climbing A should at least
conform to one of the following conditions:
1.
Belong to the frontier research of the field, have a good
basis of work and be expected to make important
breakthroughs in the next five to ten years;
2. Belong to the basic research that can give
play to the geographical and resource advantages and the
characteristics of research work of China and be expected to
gain important research achievements with the Chinese
characteristics;
3. Belong to the basic
research that has already gained superiority and belongs to
the advanced level in the world, and be expected to continue
to gain important progress.
A project of
Climbing B should at least conform to one of the following
conditions;
1. Have important prospect of
application, be urgently needed by the economic development
of China, belong to an area of active research activities in
the world and be expected to bring about excellent
achievements within this century;
2. Be of
great significance for the development of the engineering
and technology science itself and favorable for engineering
and technology to develop to a higher level;
3. Be of great significance for the
development of new fields of engineering and
technology;
4. Be favorable to promoting the
technical advancement of the main industries or giving full
play to the advantages of natural resources in China, and be
expected to bring about great economic and social
benefits.
VI. SELECTION OF
PROJECTS
The Climbing Programme sticks to the
principle of providing support on selective basis. The
Ministry of Science and Technology is in charge of the
selection and works jointly with the Ministry of Education,
the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the National Natural
Science Foundation of China and related departments. The
principles of selection are :
1. To carefully
select projects in the priority fields of development
according to the conditions for project institution, and
stick to the principle of selecting the best and the
needed;
2. To make selection according to the
goal and objectives of the state and emphasize
innovation;
3. To encourage extensive
cooperation, including that covering different disciplines
and departments;
4. To recruit leading experts
of high academic level and organizational ability and
corresponding research teams, particularly middle and young
aged leading experts and research teams with youths as the
mainstay force ;
5. To pay attention to
selecting high level research teams as the implementing
agencies of projects of the programme, such as research
institutes with outstanding research achievements, national
key open laboratories, important scientific engineering
projects, scientific centres, etc.
VII
ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT
The Ministry of
Science and Technology is responsible for organization of
Education, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the National
Natural Science Foundation of China, etc. With organization
routine management of projects, An expert committee is
installed for a project to take charge of academic
activities, and the chief scientist responsibility system is implemented.
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