Institutional Management of Scientific Research Projects In Chinacurrent situationproblems and countermeasures(2006年公共管理國(guó)際會(huì)議論文)

1、Institutional Management of Scientific Research Projects In China:Current Situation, Problems and Countermeasures 1.WANG Ming-ming 2.DAI Hong-yiSchool of Economics and ManagementBeijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, P.R. ChinaAbstract This article presents an analysis of the cur

2、rent situation and problems pertaining to the institutional management of scientific research projects in China and puts forward some measures to overcome these difficulties. The formulation of a framework for effective institutional management of scientific research projects is described.Key words

3、scientific research projects, management framework, legal system for S&T, project-based system1 IntroductionThe institution of a system for the management of scientific research projects/programs (denoted hereinafter as “projects”) is an important institutional guarantee of effective organizatio

4、n and implementation of scientific research projects and allocation of S&T resources, which should lead to optimization of S&T outputs. In 2001, the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), the Ministry of Finance (MOF), the National Planning and Economy Commission (NPEC)* NPEC has now bee

5、n replaced by NDRC (National Development and Reform Commission) and the National Commission of Economy and Trade (NCET) * NCET has now been replaced by MOC (Ministry of Commerce)*of the State Council of the PRC enacted the “Regulations for Implementation of a Project-based National Scientific Resear

6、ch Plan” (abbreviated as “Regulations” hereinafter). The “Regulations” represent a very important institutional innovation in the management of scientific research projects in China. After implementation of the “Regulations” the managerial departments for all scientific research plans, consisting of

7、 ministries and commissions of the State Council, local governments and scientific research foundations, all started to institute or modify existing management systems in accord with the requirements of the “Regulations”.2 System for Management of Scientific Research Projects in China the Present Si

8、tuation According to the legal system in China1, the system for the management of scientific research projects can be classified into three levels, viz. basic laws, rules and regulations, and detailed management rules (Figure 1). Figure 1 Pyramid structure of the management system of scientific rese

9、arch projects in ChinaAccording to Chinas legislative framework, laws and regulations can be ranked from high to low as listed below:l National laws; l Administrative regulations;l Local regulations, byelaws and ordinances.This is somewhat different from our classification in this article. Our aim i

10、s to explain the institutional framework of Chinas scientific research project management system on three levels, namely, legal foundations, fundamental principles and practice.National laws are the embodiment of national volition and the institutional basis for the establishment of a system for the

11、 management of scientific research projects. Rules and regulations, instituted by the managerial departments responsible for all scientific research plans, provide the principles underlying the regulations for the management of scientific research projects. Detailed rules at the implementation level

12、 of the managerial system may consist of different forms, such as detailed rules for implementation, managerial handbooks, procedural criteria, and designation of responsibilities.The current national laws concerning scientific research projects in China are listed in Table 1.Table 1 National laws c

13、oncerning scientific research projects in ChinaLawDate of promulgationLaw on Advancement of Science and Technology2nd Jul., 1993Law on Promotion of Technology Transfer of Scientific Achievements 15th May, 1996Law on Tendering and Bidding30th Aug., 1999Patent Law25th Aug., 2000Contract Law15th Mar.,

14、1999Law on State SecretsMay, 1988Byelaw on Awards in Science and Technology 20th Dec., 2003Of these, the “Law on Advancement of Science and Technology” is the fundamental law in the S&T domain. It forms the basis and fundamental guiding ideology for all kinds of policies, regulations and rules i

15、n the S&T domain. The law is wide ranging and covers a variety of issues, however the basic ideology it embodies is the root for the construction of an institutional framework for scientific research project management. This law provides the basis for the drafting of all regulations and rules co

16、ncerning the management of scientific research plans. Similarly, the “Law on Promotion of Technology Transfer of Scientific Achievements” is the legal basis for the drafting of all regulations and rules on technology transfer, the “Law on Tendering and Bidding” is the basis for the drafting of all r

17、egulations and rules concerning bidding in the S&T field and the “Contract Law” is the basis for the drafting of all regulations and rules on contract management in the S&T domain.The regulations and rules concerning scientific research projects can be grouped into three levels according to

18、the responsible administrative level and the scope of their validity, i.e. national level, provincial or ministry/commission level, and municipal level. MOST, the department of the State Council responsible for S&T, takes charge of macroscopic management of all kinds of scientific research proje

19、cts and is responsible for the drawing up and promulgation of policies, regulations and rules concerning scientific research project management, covering all aspects of S&T evaluation, S&T bidding, S&T funds, and S&T achievements. These regulations and rules provide the framework for

20、 the management of all types of scientific research projects in China. The regulations and rules concerning scientific research project management currently promulgated by MOST are listed in Table 2.The regulations and rules promulgated by MOST are just the principles of scientific research project

21、management. To put these principles into practice, different national level S&T funding bodies, ministry/commission level S&T planning bureaus and provincial level departments, have each implemented their own institutional system for the management of scientific research projects.Table 2 Nat

22、ional level rules and regulations concerning scientific research project management in China* Some of these regulations and rules cover more than one aspect of scientific research project management. For example, the regulations and rules on S&T evaluation involve the evaluation of not only scie

23、ntific research projects but also S&T institutions and personnel. In addition, the regulations and rules on management of S&T achievements and S&T awards cover the whole S&T domain, not just S&T projects. Nevertheless, considering that these regulations and rules are very closely

24、 related to the management of scientific research projects, the analysis put forward in this article assumes that these regulations and rules comprise the foundation of the system of scientific research project management.FieldTitles of rules and regulationsPromulgation departmentPromulgation dateRe

25、search project-based systemRegulations for Implementation of a Project-based National Scientific Research PlanMOST, MOF, NPEC, NCET20th Dec., 2001S&T planning managementProvisional Regulations on the Management of the National S&T Plan MOST20th Jan., 2001Provisional Regulations on the Manage

26、ment of National S&T Planned ProjectsMOST20th Jan., 2001S&T evaluationProvisional Rules on Management of S&T EvaluationMOST28th Dec., 2000Decisions on the Improvement of S&T EvaluationMOST, MOE, CAS, CAE, NFSC7th May, 2003Regulation on S&T Evaluation (trial implementation)MOST20t

27、h Sep., 2003Examination, appraisal and supervision in project managementProvisional Rules on the Examination and Appraisal of National Scientific Research Plan ProjectsMOST, MOF, NPEC, NCET8th May, 2002Standards of Conduct and Supervisory Rules in the Appraisal and Examination of National Scientific

28、 Research Plan ProjectsMOST1st Mar., 2003S&T fee managementRules on the Management of Three Kinds* “ Three Kinds of S&T Funds” refers to the new product trial production funds, intermediate test funds and national subsidies for important scientific research projects.* of S&T Funds (trial

29、 implementation)MOF26th Jun., 2000Provisional Rules on the Management of Funds for National Scientific Research PlansMOST8th Dec., 2005Bidding managementProvisional Rules on the Management of Bidding for National S&T ProjectsMOST28th Dec., 2000Provisional Rules on the Qualifications of S&T E

30、valuation Agencies and S&T Project Bidding Agencies MOST4th Jan., 2001Bidding Guidance for S&T ProjectsMOST25th Jun., 2001Provisional Regulations on the Management of Bidding for National S&T Projects incorporating the Project-based SystemMOST, MOF, NPEC, NCET31st May, 2002S&T achiev

31、ement managementRules on the Authentication of S&T AchievementsMOST26th Oct., 1994Regulations on the Procedures for Authentication of S&T Achievements MOSTDec., 1994Rules on the Register of S&T AchievementsMOST1st Jan., 2001Provisional Rules for the Strengthening of Management of S&T

32、 Achievements of National S&T PlansMOST18th Jun., 2003Regulations on the Management of Intellectual Property Rights Concerning Achievements of National S&T Planned ProjectsMOST5th Mar., 2002S&T credit managementDecisions on the Establishment of an Accreditation Management System in Natio

33、nal S&T PlansMOST3rd Sep., 2004Rules on Management of Expert Accreditation in the Assessment of National S&T Planned ProjectsMOSTTo be promulgatedS&T archive managementProvisional Regulations on the Management of S&T ArchivesMOST, SAAC8th Jun., 2005S&T awardsRules for Provincial

34、and Ministrial Level S&T Awards MOST26th Dec., 1999Managerial Rules for the Establishment of Non-governmental S&T Awards (Revised Edition)MOST5th Feb., 2006(Source: )Among national S&T projects, projects supported under the “863” Plan (National High Technology Research and Development Pl

35、an) and by the NSF (National Natural Science Foundation) already have relatively thorough management systems in place. The management system for the “863” plan has regulations or rules in respect of S&T planning management, management of examination and appraisal, management of funds, management

36、 of S&T achievements and monitoring and supervision. The NSF has separate regulations for general projects, key projects and major projects. Moreover, the management system for NSF supported projects also has specific regulations on management of monitoring and supervision, management of funds a

37、nd management of S&T achievements.Each ministry or commission of the State Council not only oversees the management of national S&T projects in its own sphere of responsibility, but also has its own industrial S&T funds to support S&T development in the field, and thus has its own ma

38、nagement system for S&T planning and projects. Provincial governments also require a system for management of scientific research projects for which they provide funding.The basic laws in the S&T domain, national regulations and rules concerning scientific research project management, and th

39、e administrative systems of ministries and commissions of the State Council and provincial governments in the S&T domain collectively constitute the system of governance for scientific research project management in China.3 Data search and statistical analysis of regulations and rules concerning

40、 scientific research project management in ChinaFrom February 28th to March 6th 2006, the authors carried out an internet search for regulations and rules concerning scientific research project management in 76 administrative ministries/commissions of the State Council and 31 provincial governments

41、(Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan were not included), with the aim investigating the comprehensiveness of the institutional management systems in these bodies. Two methods were adopted in the search for regulations and rules in the 76 administrative ministries/commissions of the State Council as follows:

42、(1) Loading the website of each government body and following the links to “Policies, laws and regulations” (or similar links) and Bureau of S&T (or related bureaus or divisions);(2) Searching by use of the Baidu search engine (the largest Chinese language search engine in the world). The combin

43、ation of key words used in searching were “name of ministry/commission” plus “scientific research project” or plus “S&T plan”.The methods adopted in searching for data for the 31 provincial governments were similar to the above.Considering the variation in the functions of different ministries/c

44、ommissions, we selected 32 ministries/commissions which have a role in industrial production in order to increase the reliability of the statistical analysis. These 32 ministries/commissions are the Ministry of Education (MOE), the Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense

45、(COSTIND), the State Ethnic Affairs Commission (SEAC), the Ministry of Public Security (MPS), the Ministry of Justice (MOJ), the Ministry of Labour and Social Security (MOLSS), the Ministry of Land and Resources (MLR), the Ministry of Railways (MOR), the Ministry of Communications (MOC), the Ministr

46、y of Information Industry (MII), the Ministry of Water Resources (MWR), the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA), the Ministry of Culture (MOC), the Ministry of Health (MOH), the National Population and Family Planning Commission (NPFPC), the National Audit Office (NAO), the Administration of Quality Super

47、vision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ), the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA), the General Administration of Civil Aviation (GACA), the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT), the General Administration of Sport (GAS), the State Forestry Administration (SFA)

48、, the State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA), the National Tourism Administration (NTA), the China Earthquake Administration (CEA), the China Meteorological Administration (CMA), the State Grain Administration (SGA), the State Oceanic Administration (SOA), the State Bureau of Surveying and Mappin

49、g (SBSM), the State Post Bureau (SPB), the State Administration of Cultural Heritage (SACH), and the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine (SATCM).From the search results, it was found that of these 32 units, 21 (65.7%) have implemented project management regulations/rules; 6 units (1

50、8.8%) have separate regulations/rules for different types of projects (basic scientific research projects, applied research projects and preliminary feasibility studies of potential major projects); 4 units (12.5%) have instituted regulations/rules according to the degree of importance of the projec

51、ts (general, key, major); 3 units (9.3%) have instituted regulations/rules on evaluation and examination; 4 units (12.5%) have instituted regulations/rules on management of S&T funds; 2 units (6%) have instituted regulations/rules on management of S&T bidding; 14 units (43.8%) have institute

52、d regulations/rules on management of S&T achievements; 1 unit (3%) has instituted regulations/rules on management of expert panel assessment or supervision. The corresponding data are given in Table 3.Table 3 Results of search for regulations in ministries/commissions of the State Council （“YES”

53、:；“NO”;×）ProjectmanagementTypesdifferentialImportancedifferentialEvaluation& examinationS&TfundsBiddingS&Tachievementsand awardsSupervision&accrediationMOE××××COSTIND××××××SEAC×××××××MPS×&#

54、215;××××MOJ×××××××MOLSS×××××××MLR×××××××MOR××××××MOC××××××MII××××××MWR××

55、15;×MOA××××××MOC×××××××MOH××××××××NPFPC××××××NAO×××××××AQSIQ×××××××SEPA×××&

56、#215;×××GACA××××××SARFT×××××××GAS××××SFA××××××××SFDA××××××××NTA××××××××CEA×

57、××××××CMA×××××××SGA××××××××SOA××××SBSM××××××××SPB×××××SACH××SATCM×××××Most

58、of the 31 provincial governments have instituted a management system for S&T plans/projects; however, a few governments such as Guangxi and Tibet have implemented hardly any regulations or rules in the S&T domain. Of the 31 provincial governments, 5 have not established regulations/rules for

59、 S&T project management; 15 have instituted separate regulations/rules for the management of basic scientific research projects; 3 have instituted specific regulations/rules for the management of key/major projects; 9 have instituted regulations/rules on evaluation and examination; 12 have insti

60、tuted regulations/rules on the management of S&T funds; 11 have instituted regulations/rules on management of S&T bidding; most of them have instituted regulations/rules on management of S&T achievements or S&T awards; 7 have instituted regulations/rules on management of expert panel assessment or supervision. With few exceptions, provincial governments have established provincial NSF and SSF (Social Science Foundation) bodies with their own corresponding in