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Why China hasn't produced Nobel Prize winners in science
By Cai Wenjun and Liang Yiwen |
November 22, 2012, Thursday
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WHILE Japan was celebrating its 20th winner of the Nobel Prize in October, this time in medicine for stem cell research, China celebrated its first Nobel for literature won by a resident of the Chinese mainland, Mo Yan.
But although Chinese living abroad have won Nobel Prizes in physics, chemistry and medicine, not one scientist working on the mainland has won or shared the award in physics, chemistry or medicine.
Experts said the reasons China doesn't hold a science Nobel are complicated. They include the exam-oriented education system, the network for scientific research and development, the evaluation system for scientists and their research, the way research grants are awarded, and the government's attitude toward scientific research.
Pushing too hard
Dr Wang Mingwei, director of the Chinese National Compound Library, said China is in too big a hurry to demonstrate it has joined the international ranks of achievers in all fields and that it is bigger and better in everything.
"Both the government and the public are pushing scientists too much and they are viewing international prizes like Nobel Prize as the only criteria to evaluate scientists and their work," Wang told Shanghai Daily.
"No Nobel winners set winning the Nobel Prize as the goal for their work," he said. "Their dedication, passion and interest in scientific research drives them to work hard and achieve the kind of results that are recognized by the Nobel Prize."
Wang's opinion is shared by Oliver Smithies, a British-born American geneticist who shared the 2007 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with an American and Briton for development of gene targeting in mice.
Interest and devotion
At a recent talk with university students in Shanghai, Smithies, who is 87, said real interest and devotion to science are key to making important contributions. He emphasized the importance of personal interest and suggested science students find subjects that really interest them. "If your tutor doesn't like the project you like, change the tutor," he said.
Scientific research often involves creativity and inventions. Smithies said that when he couldn't find the kind of specific equipment he needed, he made his own - this was the case in the research that won the Nobel. He held up a pink container that he said was an infant's bathtub, which he had modified with wires and equipment from other lab apparatus. "Never make winning the Nobel Prize your goal," he said. "No Nobel Prize winners target the prize during their research. The only thing that all winners have in common are having fun and having confidence in their research."
Xiong Bingqi, vice head of the 21st Century Education Research Institute, a non-profit organization featuring researches on education and public policy, said a reason for the lack of recognition in science today is the nature of China's education system.
"We teach students knowledge," he said. "But studies suggest knowledge-centered education can only have a very minor impact in a person's future life ... The education system doesn't value and nurture students imagination, creativity, observation and communications skills that can influence a whole life," Xiong said.
China's education system is famously test oriented. The system and appraisal by tests kill students' personality, imagination and creativity and produce a lot of "exam-taking machines," he said.
Another major obstacle to genuine scientific innovation and achievement is bureaucracy, Xiong said. Many researchers lose research funding in an academic structure too often controlled by administrative bodies.
Scientists who want to get funding often have to spend a lot of time socializing and interacting, attending conferences, writing papers as well as writing applications for projects, leaving them with little time for creative thinking, he said.
Research also tends to be utilitarian and pure research without relatively short-term returns and rewards isn't generally favored by institutions, funders or individual researchers.
Publish or perish
University evaluation systems are also flawed because they appraise researchers by the number of papers they publish and the number of projects they complete, instead of genuine scientific achievement, Xiong said.
Plagiarism flourishes in quite a few universities because researchers are under great pressure to secure promotions.
China wants its scientists to win Nobels and pours money into key research programs in pursuit of the prize, but first of all it should create a fair and free environment for researchers to work without bureaucratic interruption or utilitarian considerations.
But although Chinese living abroad have won Nobel Prizes in physics, chemistry and medicine, not one scientist working on the mainland has won or shared the award in physics, chemistry or medicine.
Experts said the reasons China doesn't hold a science Nobel are complicated. They include the exam-oriented education system, the network for scientific research and development, the evaluation system for scientists and their research, the way research grants are awarded, and the government's attitude toward scientific research.
Pushing too hard
Dr Wang Mingwei, director of the Chinese National Compound Library, said China is in too big a hurry to demonstrate it has joined the international ranks of achievers in all fields and that it is bigger and better in everything.
"Both the government and the public are pushing scientists too much and they are viewing international prizes like Nobel Prize as the only criteria to evaluate scientists and their work," Wang told Shanghai Daily.
"No Nobel winners set winning the Nobel Prize as the goal for their work," he said. "Their dedication, passion and interest in scientific research drives them to work hard and achieve the kind of results that are recognized by the Nobel Prize."
Wang's opinion is shared by Oliver Smithies, a British-born American geneticist who shared the 2007 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with an American and Briton for development of gene targeting in mice.
Interest and devotion
At a recent talk with university students in Shanghai, Smithies, who is 87, said real interest and devotion to science are key to making important contributions. He emphasized the importance of personal interest and suggested science students find subjects that really interest them. "If your tutor doesn't like the project you like, change the tutor," he said.
Scientific research often involves creativity and inventions. Smithies said that when he couldn't find the kind of specific equipment he needed, he made his own - this was the case in the research that won the Nobel. He held up a pink container that he said was an infant's bathtub, which he had modified with wires and equipment from other lab apparatus. "Never make winning the Nobel Prize your goal," he said. "No Nobel Prize winners target the prize during their research. The only thing that all winners have in common are having fun and having confidence in their research."
Xiong Bingqi, vice head of the 21st Century Education Research Institute, a non-profit organization featuring researches on education and public policy, said a reason for the lack of recognition in science today is the nature of China's education system.
"We teach students knowledge," he said. "But studies suggest knowledge-centered education can only have a very minor impact in a person's future life ... The education system doesn't value and nurture students imagination, creativity, observation and communications skills that can influence a whole life," Xiong said.
China's education system is famously test oriented. The system and appraisal by tests kill students' personality, imagination and creativity and produce a lot of "exam-taking machines," he said.
Another major obstacle to genuine scientific innovation and achievement is bureaucracy, Xiong said. Many researchers lose research funding in an academic structure too often controlled by administrative bodies.
Scientists who want to get funding often have to spend a lot of time socializing and interacting, attending conferences, writing papers as well as writing applications for projects, leaving them with little time for creative thinking, he said.
Research also tends to be utilitarian and pure research without relatively short-term returns and rewards isn't generally favored by institutions, funders or individual researchers.
Publish or perish
University evaluation systems are also flawed because they appraise researchers by the number of papers they publish and the number of projects they complete, instead of genuine scientific achievement, Xiong said.
Plagiarism flourishes in quite a few universities because researchers are under great pressure to secure promotions.
China wants its scientists to win Nobels and pours money into key research programs in pursuit of the prize, but first of all it should create a fair and free environment for researchers to work without bureaucratic interruption or utilitarian considerations.
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