1. BACKGROUND
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 resarch 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 favourable 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
favourable 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.