46 scientists from china get social funding for basic research
(photo:vcg)
by staff reporters
the new cornerstone investigator program, one of the largest social funds for basic research led by a group of scientists and tencent holdings,hasselected46 scientists from 13 chinese citiesfor its second round of funding, it was announced on oct 30.
in 2022, tencent announcedit wouldinvest 10 billion yuan in 10 years to supportoutstanding scientists to concentrate on basic research and achieve original innovation "from 0 to 1".
the programhastwo major fields:mathematics and physical sciences, andbiological and biomedical sciences, and encourages interdisciplinary research.
the "new cornerstone researcher" funding categoryhastwo categories: the experimental category, which disburses25 million rmbto each recipientforfiveyears, and the theoretical category, allocating15 million rmb per person forfive years. in january 2023, 58 distinguished scientistsbecame the firstbatch ofnew cornerstonefellows.
china's private enterprises are expected to play a bigger role in driving the basic research of original innovations to help the country gain more scientific breakthroughs and a global foothold amid rising technological competition,industry experts and company executivessaidon oct 30.
"in the next 10 to 20 years, china is moving from quantity to quality in its tech development. the 'new cornerstone researchers' program focuses on original innovation and aims to make(the)most of private funding's flexibility, supplementing government support for fundamental research," tencent vicepresidentchen juhongsaid.
