China must overcome cultural obstacles to boost research

China's school teachers must do more to help establish a "scientific spirit" early on Copyright: Flickr/ World Bank Photo Collection

We encourage you to republish this article online and in print, it’s free under our creative commons attribution license, but please follow some simple guidelines:

You have to credit our authors.
You have to credit SciDev.Net — where possible include our logo with a link back to the original article.
You can simply run the first few lines of the article and then add: “Read the full article on SciDev.Net” containing a link back to the original article.
If you want to also take images published in this story you will need to confirm with the original source if you're licensed to use them.
The easiest way to get the article on your site is to embed the code below.

For more information view our media page and republishing guidelines.

The full article is available here as HTML.

Press Ctrl-C to copy

<div class="article-wrap">
<div id="article-introduction">
<h1>China must overcome cultural obstacles to boost research</h1>
<h4></h4>
</div>
<br />
<br />

<div id="article-body">
<p><span>If China is to improve the quality of its scientific </span><a href="http://www.scidev.net/en/science-and-innovation-policy/r-d/">research</a><span>, it must take concrete steps to overcome entrenched ‘cultural obstacles’ — such as isolation and self-sufficiency — which are hindering its progress, argues Peng Gong in <em>Nature.</em> </span></p>
<p><span>Although misconduct hampers the quality of much scientific research in the country, philosophies passed down through generations can also explain poor performance. These have "discouraged curiosity, commercialisation and technology", says Gong.  </span></p>
<p><span>One of the consequences is the desire of Chinese scientists to pursue leading research, rather than play a supporting role. This results in redundancy and a reluctance to share data. For example, the China Meterological Administration (CMA) has 2,000 weather stations and the Bureau of Hydrology has 20,000 gauge stations, which could improve CMA forecasts — but it does not make the data unavailable. </span></p>
<p><span>Another consequence is a lack of effective division of work. There are very few specialised research services in the country because research administrators reward only original research, which discourages scientists from taking on supporting roles. </span></p>
<p><span>Assigning specialised jobs is one of the steps that can be taken to overcome these obstacles, says Gong. "Positions must be created for chemical analysts, computer engineers, experimentalists, instrumentation staff and specialized data providers". </span></p>
<p><span>Gong also suggests that China must instil a "scientific spirit" early in its </span><a href="http://www.scidev.net/en/science-and-innovation-policy/education/">education</a> system, not just in <a href="http://www.scidev.net/en/science-and-innovation-policy/university-systems/">universities</a><span> as it has done in recent years. </span></p>
<p><span>And the country must do more to encourage international collaboration in scientific research by providing financial support. A recent US$7 million government-funded mapping project ruled out foreign collaborators — an example of practices that can hinder progress. </span></p>
<p><span>Collaborations must be encouraged by individual scientists as well as organisations, says Gong, and those that prove successful must be rewarded with grants and promotions. </span></p>
<p><span><a target="_blank" href="http://www.nature.com/news/cultural-history-holds-back-chinese-research-1.9901" rel="noopener noreferrer"><span>Link to full article in </span><em>Nature</em></a></span></p>

</div>
<div class="quick-links-wrapper">
<h3>You might also like</h3>
[related-articles]
</div>
<p>This article was originally published on <a href="https://www.scidev.net" target="_blank">SciDev.Net</a>. Read the <a href="https://www.scidev.net/global/opinions/china-must-overcome-cultural-obstacles-to-boost-research-1/" target="_blank">original article</a>.</p>
<script type="text/javascript">
(function(e,t,n,r,i,s,o){e["GoogleAnalyticsObject"]=i;e[i]=e[i]||function(){(e[i].q=e[i].q||[]).push(arguments)},e[i].l=1*new Date;s=t.createElement(n),o=t.getElementsByTagName(n)[0];s.async=1;s.src=r;o.parentNode.insertBefore(s,o)})(window,document,"script","//www.google-analytics.com/ga.js","ga");var _gaq=_gaq||[];var _gaq=_gaq||[];_gaq.push(["_setAccount","UA-3223906-8"],["_trackEvent","article interaction","republished","https://www.scidev.net/global/opinions/china-must-overcome-cultural-obstacles-to-boost-research-1/",null,true])
</script>
</div>

If China is to improve the quality of its scientific research, it must take concrete steps to overcome entrenched ‘cultural obstacles’ — such as isolation and self-sufficiency — which are hindering its progress, argues Peng Gong in Nature.

Although misconduct hampers the quality of much scientific research in the country, philosophies passed down through generations can also explain poor performance. These have "discouraged curiosity, commercialisation and technology", says Gong.

One of the consequences is the desire of Chinese scientists to pursue leading research, rather than play a supporting role. This results in redundancy and a reluctance to share data. For example, the China Meterological Administration (CMA) has 2,000 weather stations and the Bureau of Hydrology has 20,000 gauge stations, which could improve CMA forecasts — but it does not make the data unavailable.

Another consequence is a lack of effective division of work. There are very few specialised research services in the country because research administrators reward only original research, which discourages scientists from taking on supporting roles.

Assigning specialised jobs is one of the steps that can be taken to overcome these obstacles, says Gong. "Positions must be created for chemical analysts, computer engineers, experimentalists, instrumentation staff and specialized data providers".

Gong also suggests that China must instil a "scientific spirit" early in its education system, not just in universities as it has done in recent years.

And the country must do more to encourage international collaboration in scientific research by providing financial support. A recent US$7 million government-funded mapping project ruled out foreign collaborators — an example of practices that can hinder progress.

Collaborations must be encouraged by individual scientists as well as organisations, says Gong, and those that prove successful must be rewarded with grants and promotions.

Link to full article in Nature