EMBASSY OF SWITZERLAND IN CHINA
BEIJING, 10.01.2014, LNO/MOLFA
Fact Sheet:
National Natural Science Foundation of China
Research funding in China
The NSFC is the largest Chinese research funding agency for basic research and application-oriented
research in the natural sciences.
The most important research funding institutions apart from NSFC are the following:
- The Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) provides competitive funding for basic and
applied research in the disciplines of “national priority”.
- The Ministry of Education (MoE) directly funds most public Chinese Universities.
- The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) runs 104 research institutions and provides
competitive funding programs for their researchers.
- The China Scholarship Council (CSC) provides fellowships for international exchange, both for
students and young researchers.
Overview
The NSFC, is modeled after Western research funding agencies, with one annual call for proposals, a
peer review system and seven disciplinary evaluation panels. It is financed directly by the State
Council, the highest governmental institution in China, and thus largely independent of other
government institutions. Historically, it is close to the CAS, and most panel members of the NSFC are
also members of the CAS (“academicians”). NSFC does not fund research in the social sciences and
the humanities. There is little public competitive funding for these disciplines in China, most of it
provided by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
Total Funding 2012
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RMB 23.5 billion
CHF 3.5 billion
20% / year
38’411
23.45%
Annual growth (since 2007)
No. of funded projects 2012
Success rate in the General Program
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•
•
•
•
•
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Mathematical and Physical Sciences
Chemical Sciences
Life Sciences
Earth Sciences
Engineering and Materials Sciences
Information Sciences
Management Sciences
Health Sciences
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Average funding per project in the General Program in 2012
Average funding per project in the Key Program in 2012
Budget for international cooperation and exchange programs 2012
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•
•
•
•
•
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31.58%
27.12%
22.88%
29.12%
25.24%
23.10%
17.98%
18.79%
•
RMB 738’900
CHF 111’000
RMB 2.9 million
CHF 435’000
RMB 578 million
CHF 87 million
NSFC Annual Report 2012
Sanlitun Dongwujie 3, 100600 Beijing, China
Phone: +86 10 8532 88 88, Fax: +86 10 6532 43 53
bei.vertretung@eda.admin.ch, www.eda.admin.ch/beijing
Organization
NSFC has seven scientific departments
and seven strategic, administrative or
supervisory units. Its highest organ is the
NSFC Council. The council determines
the general strategy and specifies
funding instruments and priority research
areas.
The
presidents
of
each
department serve as council president or
vice-presidents. In addition, there are 25
regular members from research institutes,
universities, government and enterprises.
The current president is Yang WEI,
member of the CAS and professor of
solid mechanics.
The presidents of each department are
researchers who work for NSFC on a
part-time basis. Each department has a
vice-president from the full-time staff of
the NSFC offices. NSFC has 200 full-time
staff members.
Funding Instruments
Research Promotion
Talent Fostering
Infrastructure Construction
for Basic Research
General Program
National Science Fund
for Distinguished Young
Scholars
Special Funds for Basic
Research Instruments
Key Program
Young Scientists Fund
International Cooperation
and Exchange
Major Program
Joint Research Fund for
Overseas Chinese, HK and
Macao Young Scholars
Public Understanding of
Science
Major Research Plan
Fund for Creative
Research Groups
International Joint
Research Program
Fund for Fostering
Talents of Basic Science
Research Fellowship for
International Young
Scientists
The General Program is the largest funding instruments with over 50% of NSFC’s total funding. It
funds unsolicited small PI-initiated projects, with topics that can be selected freely within the scope of
the natural sciences. The Key Program finances medium-sized, PI-initiated projects within priority
areas of the NSFC. The Major Program and the Major Research Plan fund large projects of strategic
value to economic and social development in national priority areas.
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The instruments within Talent Fostering fund young researchers and researchers of focus groups
(women, researchers in minority areas, incoming foreign researchers). They do not include scholarshis
for outgoing researchers, which are the area of the China Scholarship Council.
The programs within the Infrastructure category have the purpose of creating an environment
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generally friendly to science and research.
Allocation of funding to categories
Allocation of funding within the
Research Program
2%
8%
Research
Program
26%
5%
3%
General Program
Key Program
10%
Talent Training
66%
Infrastructure
Construction
Major Program
80%
Major Research
Plan
International JRPs
All of NSFC’s funding instruments cover the costs for equipment, apparatus, travel costs, etc.
NSFC grants, as most other research grants in China, do not cover the salaries, neither of
applicants nor the members of their research team. Researchers’ salaries are financed by
universities or research institutes themselves (i.e. indirectly by the Ministry of Education or
Chinese Academy of Science).
But
the
the
the
Evaluation process
The General Program, as most other NSFC programs, has one annual call for proposals on March 31.
The evaluation then consists of the following steps:
-
An administrative check for eligibility and completeness, which 95% of the proposals pass,
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A peer review evaluation with at least three reviews per proposal. The reviewers are selected
by NSFC staff from a pool of 30’000 Chinese experts. Over 90% of the experts that are
contacted submit a review.
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NSFC staff summarizes the reviews and suggest a ranking to the evaluation panels.
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The relevant disciplinary panel decides on the ranking of the proposals, which determines
which project can be funded. The top-ranked proposals usually receive the funds that were
requested, while the budget of lower-ranked proposals are cut.
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The NSFC Council takes the final decision on the funding suggested by the panel.
-
The final decisions are communicated to the applicants in October (6-7 months after the
submission), and the funding starts in January.
The NSFC’s evaluation process is well documented and much more transparent than those of other
funding institutions in China. Also, NSFC’s measures to prevent conflicts of interest are the most
rigorous in China (the names of panelists are released only after the annual review round; the
panelists don’t know the identity of the other panelists before the first meeting; the panel members of
the panel are excluded in years when they submit their own proposal; reviewers are not allowed to
review applications of researchers of their own institution).
However, an international evaluation report, published in 2011, pointed out that these rules were not
always sufficiently enforced. It also mentioned the problems of overstrained staff with around 500
proposals per employee, a low success rate for interdisciplinary proposals, and a lack of female,
young and international panel members.
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NSFC Annual Report 2012
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International Cooperation
The NSFC budget for all funding instruments for international cooperation in 2012 was RMB 578
million (CHF 77 million), 4% of the total budget. NSFC funds both researcher mobility and international
joint research projects.
International Joint Research
Program
International Cooperation and
Exchange Project
Major International Joint Research
Program
International Cooperation and
Exchange
Joint Research Projects funded
under the Framework of
Agreements between NSFC and
Partner Institutions
Going Abroad to Attend
International academic workshops
Research Fellowship for
International Young Scientists
Hold international workshops in
China
Special Fund for short-term return
of overseas Chinese scholars to
work in China
In JRP funding instruments the two countries usualy agree on matching funding of 5-20 projects of
RMB 1-3m (CHF 150’000 – 450’000) each. The largest JRP programs of NSFC are with the EU
Directorate General for Research and Innovation, Germany, Japan and South Korea.
Sources
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Annual Reports 2008-2012: http://www.nsfc.gov.cn/english/03re/02/index.html
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International Evaluation Report by the International Evaluation Committee (2011):
http://www.nsfc.gov.cn/english/03re/fj/20121025_01.pdf
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Factsheets about NSFC programs: http://www.access4.eu/China/274.php
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“NSFC and its International Cooperation”, 2012:
http://openchina-ict.eu/wp-content/plugins/alcyonis-event-agenda//files/Yingjie_Fan.pdf
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