The revised Science and Technology Progress Law consists of 12 chapters and 117 articles, including general provisions, basic research, applied research and achievement transformation, enterprise scientific and technological innovation, scientific and technological research and development institutions, scientific and technical personnel, regional scientific and technological innovation, and international scientific and technological cooperation.
“Compared with the 2007 version of the Science and Technology Progress Law, this revision adds four chapters: basic research, regional scientific and technological innovation, international scientific and technological cooperation, and supervision and management, and comprehensively upgrades my country’s science and technology governance system by adding separate chapters.” Chinese Academy of Sciences Xiao Youdan, a researcher at the Science and Technology Strategic Consulting Institute, said that the newly revised Science and Technology Progress Law not only transforms the established policy and decision-making of scientific and technological innovation into the national will, but also adjusts the construction of the national innovation system to the main line of the Science and Technology Progress Law. Add special provisions for the construction of innovative systems.
Press the main switch of technological innovation
Basic research is the source of technological innovation. In this revision, “Basic Research” has been placed in an important position in the “Second Chapter” after the “General Provisions”, which shows that my country attaches great importance to basic research.
“Basic research is divided into chapters, which reflects the stage characteristics and strategic needs of my country’s scientific and technological development.” As a core member of the drafting group of the Science and Technology Progress Law, Chen Baoming, deputy director and researcher of the Science and Technology Talent Exchange and Development Service Center of the Ministry of Science and Technology, bluntly said that my country has stepped into innovation. However, the shortcomings of basic research are becoming more and more obvious. More and more frontier fields of scientific and technological development or “no man’s land” exploration require strong basic research support. We urgently need to make up for the shortcomings of the source in the chain of scientific and technological innovation.
Statistics can best explain the situation from an objective perspective: the proportion of my country’s basic research investment has been hovering around 5% for a long time, and it will increase to 6% in 2020, but compared with the 15%-20% investment in basic research in developed and innovative countries, the gap is still there. larger.
Chen Baoming believes that the legislation can mainly solve the problems of insufficient investment in basic research, incomplete development of basic research, unstable support mechanism for basic research, insufficient basic research talents, and imperfect related evaluation and incentive mechanisms.
Comparing the two revisions of the Science and Technology Progress Law, Xiao Youdan found that if the first revision in 2007 was to realize the repositioning of the functional relationship between the government and the market in the national science and technology governance system, then this revision maintains the establishment of the current law. On the basis of the framework, it further realizes the core position of basic research in the innovation system.
“Reducing burdens and delegating powers” to promote independent innovation
“Reducing burdens and delegating powers” for scientific researchers is an important part of the reform of the scientific and technological system. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the reform of the scientific and technological system has been advancing continuously, and the effective experience and practices have also been sublimated from the policy level to the legal level.
In order to stimulate the innovative vitality of scientific researchers, the revised Science and Technology Progress Law specifically mentions that the burden of scientific and technical personnel in project application, material submission, and reimbursement of funds is reduced, and scientific and technical personnel are guaranteed their research time. Not only that, the state also encourages scientific and technical personnel to explore freely and take risks, creating a good atmosphere that encourages innovation and tolerates failure.
“Reducing the administrative burden of scientific researchers has become a basic requirement for promoting scientific and technological innovation. Through legislation to eliminate vexatiousness and ensure scientific research time, it not only provides basic protection for scientific research personnel to carry out scientific research activities, but also provides a legal basis for the implementation of relevant policies, which facilitates further clarification of requirements. , to ensure the implementation.” Chen Baoming said in an interview with a reporter from Science and Technology Daily that if researchers cannot devote their main time and energy to scientific research, even if they increase investment and increase incentives, these measures will be ineffective.
While reducing the burden on scientific researchers, the revised Science and Technology Progress Law has also established an incentive mechanism, a protection mechanism and a restraint mechanism.
The Science and Technology Progress Law is complemented by the Law on Promoting the Transformation of Scientific and Technological Achievements, which stipulates that the state encourages scientific and technological research and development institutions, institutions of higher learning, and enterprises to use equity, options, and dividends to motivate scientific and technical personnel. At the same time, in order to protect the scientific research initiative and free exploration enthusiasm of scientific researchers, it is stipulated that unfair treatment of scientific and technical personnel and their scientific and technological achievements in any way and means is prohibited, and a diligent and responsible exemption mechanism is established.
Chen Baoming believes that for scientific and technical personnel, incentives and protection of rights and interests are indispensable “two sides of one body”. The more contributions made by scientific and technical personnel, the greater the benefits, and the establishment of a positive feedback mechanism will not only increase the enthusiasm of scientific and technical personnel for scientific and technological innovation, but also protect their rights and interests after their contributions.
Under the modern science and technology management system, the exercise of many rights should fully respect the autonomy of the unit, but this may also lead to the suppression, exclusion, and difficulties of scientific and technical personnel by taking advantage of their powers. Chen Baoming said that legally, while respecting the autonomy of scientific and technical personnel, preventing them from being unfairly treated not only protects the rights and interests of scientific and technical personnel, but also acts as a check and balance on the autonomy of units.
