The 2022 Nature annual index is released, with China accounting for 31 of the 50 fastest growing institutions!

Just now, the 2022 Nature annual index report has been released.

Among the top 50 research institutions, the 31 institutions with the fastest growth are all in China.

In contrast, there are only two Chinese universities in the top ten in the 2021 list, namely Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen and Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

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Taking Jiangsu University as an example, its academic achievements from 2020 to 2021 include 82 universities Top international academic journals.

At the same time, the adjusted natural index "rocketed" by 118%.

Let’s take a few pictures to give you a feel.

These include the top journal in the international food field "Postharvest Biology and Technology", the top journal in the field of information systems "Information Sciences", and The top journal in the field of image processing is "IEEE Transactions on Image Processing".

In addition, there are "International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer", "International Journal of Hydrogen Energy", "Langmuir" and many other top journals in the fields of heat and mass transfer, energy and chemistry.

What is listed in the article is only part of it. Netizens called out: Boss, please let me offer my knee!

China has the largest increase​

Among the 50 fastest-growing institutions, only 10 are from other countries or regions.

Among other developed countries at the top of the table, the United States maintained its first position in 2021 with a share of 19,857.35, but its adjusted share fell by 6.2 in 2021. %, the largest decline among the 10 major countries and the largest decline since 2015.

China ranks second with a share of 16,753.86. Its adjusted share increased by 14.4% in 2021, the largest increase among the 10 leading countries in the 2022 table.

Compared with the 1.2% growth rate in 2021, it is not an exaggeration to say that it is riding a rocket.

Researchers speculate that the poor performance of Chinese institutions last year may have been just a "flash in the pan."

They believe the latest results may instead indicate that the Chinese government’s long-term investment in science is starting to bear fruit.

Cao Cong, a science policy researcher at the University of Nottingham Ningbo, China, said the Chinese government’s growing investment in research and development is an important factor in China’s rise. Throughout 2021, scientific research investment accounted for 2.4% of China's GDP.

According to data from the World Bank, scientific research expenditure as a percentage of China’s GDP has been rising, from 0.56% in 1996 to 2.14% in 2018.

Research in China, the future is promising

In 1995, China began to increase investment in scientific research, and the 211 project was born.

"21" is a tribute to the 21st century, and the "1" behind it refers to the approximately 100 universities included.

Three years later, the government continued to follow up on the 985 Project, and this year coincided with the 100th anniversary of the founding of Peking University.

In addition, the Chinese government also released more funding to the nine universities in the 211 plan to build new research centers and created the "C9 Alliance."

Some people also compare the "C9 League" to the Ivy League, which is composed of eight famous universities in the eastern United States.

Since then, the 985 program has been expanded to a total of 39 universities.

Note: The picture only includes some "211" and "985" universities

Then, in 2017, the Chinese government announced the "Double First-Class" initiative, identifying 140 universities with the potential to become world-class institutions.

Not only that, the government has also designated some disciplines and majors, determined to become a leader in the world.

Lin said, "I don't think the Double-First-Class Plan was run for any vanity purpose...Although there are definitely considerations of international reputation, the investment is real, just to develop some of China's We consider subjects that are more important, and then strive for corresponding strategic dominance."

"This is not just a matter of international rankings, but also about competition with the United States at the top strategic level."

Tsinghua University in Beijing Hamish Coates, director of higher education research at the university, said, "Sustained and adequate funding will also have a positive impact. Researchers can plan their research routes in the next few years in a methodical manner based on funding."

"Take Double First-class For example, in this strategy, the Chinese government has promised to put scientific development first, at least until 2050. This shows that the government is very clear about how scientific research is conducted."

Coates responded expressed some different views. He believes that there is a critical value in the amount of research being conducted, and once it is reached, the Chinese government's investment in scientific research will gradually decrease. Although, he does not think this phenomenon will appear in the next few years.

"This situation has occurred in traditional scientific research powers such as the United Kingdom and the United States. For example, if you invest 1 million US dollars in scientific research in the United States, the results you will achieve must be less than investing 100 million US dollars in China. Ten thousand US dollars. This is the most basic law of economics. One day, China’s investment in scientific research will also experience diminishing marginal returns.”

In the year from 2020 to 2021, China’s scientific research The proportion of institutions in Nature is rising faster than that of institutions in other countries or regions in the world. Is this a coincidence?

# Thinking more deeply, is there any relationship between the COVID-19 epidemic and this index? Lin said it's impossible to have a 100% correct answer.

"In the UK, in order to ensure the safety of students during the epidemic, the government required vigorous development of online teaching, and the government also provided a lot of support. This may be a reason for the slowdown in scientific research progress in the UK. Therefore, I can Presumably, researchers in Western countries also have other things to be busy with. However, this is just my conjecture. It is impossible for me to find data to confirm my conjecture."

"There is no relevant data to verify it. Our reasoning. We cannot say with certainty whether researchers in China are less affected by the COVID-19 epidemic than researchers in other countries. I have always been cautious about issues related to the epidemic."

Coates believes, "Whether the epidemic has affected Nature's index table, how it has been affected, and how much it has been affected, it is too early to discuss these issues. A conclusive result may not be available for a few years. In short, it cannot be unilateral. Attributing all changes to the new crown epidemic."

Then, Lin pointed out another problem. Scholars all over the world are lamenting the cultural phenomenon of “publish or be eliminated.” This means that if the results of a study are not published in any journal, then the study is destined to be eliminated.

Under the influence of this idea, it has become particularly important for researchers to publish articles in high-impact journals. This phenomenon, or trend of thought, is particularly common in China.

Also, this phenomenon may not be so troublesome in the UK. Researchers in the UK do not need many published papers to endorse themselves before starting their scientific research journey, but this is not the case in China. Students from Chinese universities must publish a certain amount of articles in journals when looking for a job. Even master's students have relevant requirements.

In addition, if Chinese students have not published a paper during their graduate studies, they will not be able to graduate.

Lin said many researchers in Western countries have decried the stress caused by this environment. Setting standards by requiring the number of published papers can create a vicious work environment.

And this pressure to publish papers can partially explain the phenomenon that China’s scientific research institutions are becoming more and more dominant and rising faster and faster.

Lin believes that China’s higher education system can take some measures to alleviate the excessive pressure of “issuing documents”. Weakening the emphasis on the number of publications can reduce the pressure on researchers, thereby increasing scientific research output.

In China, scholars basically stop doing scientific research when they reach the age of 60, and start focusing on educating students. However, in the West, 80-year-old scholars are still competing with young people for funding.

This is the difference in environment.

It is impossible to predict or explain observed trends in isolation. Without looking at it as a whole, it is difficult for us to understand why there is such a big difference between China’s Nature index this year and last year. Why are the development speeds of research institutions so different?

However, judging from the current situation, China's scientific research funding has always been sufficient. This year's strong performance may well be a harbinger of things to come.

In short, although there may be problems of one kind or another, the future is promising. ​

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