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Academies open doors to power and money
By Wan Lixin |
September 22, 2011, Thursday
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BECOMING an academician, a member of a prestigious national academy, is one of the highest aspirations of Chinese scientists, since admission is a high honor and members are naturally held in reverence.
Some deserves it, like academician and agrarian Yuan Longping, who has helped to ease China's food problem by raising the rice yield.
Given the high public expectation about members' attainments, people expect membership to the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE) to involve a rigorous process of selection and election.
That's not always true. In recent years as some academicians become privileged public figures capable of leveraging political and financial power, that honor is sometimes tainted by undesirable associations of its members.
The credentials or even the integrity of some academicians are sometimes cast in a suspicious light.
The latest case is that of Shi Yuanchun, a well-known pedologist (one who studies soils), former president of the Beijing Agricultural University, an academician of both CAS and CAE, accused recently by fellow researchers of falsifications and plagiarism.
Shi has denied all the charges.
There was also the case of Duan Zhenhao, a geologist already short-listed as CAS candidates this year. In July his wife accused Duan of embezzling research funds to maintain several mistresses. Duan has been detained by police.
A report by Wenhui Daily on September 8 suggested that as academicians become very influential people wielding great political and financial clout, the jockeying for that position has intensified.
Some senior academicians have been invested with the authority to approve state-level research grants involving hundreds of millions of yuan. They are also invited to sit on powerful government committees.
Lobbying
The Weihui Daily said that in principle applying for research fund is subject to a rigorous process of review based on the merit of the research itself, but in actual fact, key decisions lie with a few senior academicians who tend to give the money to those projects they have a stake in.
Although the nominal wages of an academician is only about 10,000 to 18,000 yuan (US$1,563-2,812) a month, the post is coveted for the influence its holder could leverage.
This explains why some schools or regions would go to great lengths to have their own academicians so that their interests could be better represented. This usually involves expensive public relations campaign and lobbying.
Li Xia is a researcher at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, whose studies focus on the allocation of research funds in China.
Li noted in a recent interview with Wenhui Daily that since there is great unevenness in development between the east and west, often the number of academicians in one single university in Shanghai could far surpass the total number in one whole province or region in the west.
These regions often finance expensive campaigns to have some researchers elected to CAS or CAE, or offer enormous financial benefits to attract existing academicians.
Thus precious research funds that could have been committed to more worthy endeavors such as research are diverted to some already highly privileged individuals.
What was originally an academic title is so sought after that in recent years a high proportion of ambitious government officials and corporate executives have been elected, provoking public dissatisfaction, and vows on the part of CAS and CAE to clean up the process.
There is progress.
Responding to media exposes of the high proportion of official and corporate figures among the CAS-CAE candidates earlier this year, the relevant authority later rejected some candidates who had not made adequate academic contributions.
But it would be a tough job to make academicians less privileged.
It is reported that an academician generally enjoys perks in housing, medical care, and use of a car - comparable to the extra benefits at the vice ministerial level official.
Such perks are definitely the envy of their overseas counterparts.
For instance, in England, the privileges of members to the Royal Society largely center on greater access to books and reference materials.
After winning the Nobel Prize, a Chinese scientist conducting research in an American university got a reserved parking space on the school campus as an encouragement.
Privileges
Li, the researcher into funding allocations, believes that de-officializing academicians would be difficult because "administrative interventions have long ago polluted the academic review structure."
As an academician in China today is far overvalued relative to his or her real contribution, Li suggests drastically increasing the number of positions to make them less coveted.
Only by playing down an academic post as a source of political advancement and financial reward could we hope academicians would exemplify the virtues preached by idealists.
In addressing freshmen early this month, president of Fudan University Yang Yuliang again warned students against utilitarian attitudes.
"Utilitarianism might inflate research data or the scale of a school campus, but it might otherwise erode the scholarly spirit and sense of social responsibility," Yang said.
He pointed out that this utilitarianism would affect student choices and priorities, making them shortsighted and mediocre, unwilling to seriously pursue their interests and unable to shoulder important responsibilities in the future. Well said, but apparently what students lack today is not good precepts, but role models.
Some deserves it, like academician and agrarian Yuan Longping, who has helped to ease China's food problem by raising the rice yield.
Given the high public expectation about members' attainments, people expect membership to the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE) to involve a rigorous process of selection and election.
That's not always true. In recent years as some academicians become privileged public figures capable of leveraging political and financial power, that honor is sometimes tainted by undesirable associations of its members.
The credentials or even the integrity of some academicians are sometimes cast in a suspicious light.
The latest case is that of Shi Yuanchun, a well-known pedologist (one who studies soils), former president of the Beijing Agricultural University, an academician of both CAS and CAE, accused recently by fellow researchers of falsifications and plagiarism.
Shi has denied all the charges.
There was also the case of Duan Zhenhao, a geologist already short-listed as CAS candidates this year. In July his wife accused Duan of embezzling research funds to maintain several mistresses. Duan has been detained by police.
A report by Wenhui Daily on September 8 suggested that as academicians become very influential people wielding great political and financial clout, the jockeying for that position has intensified.
Some senior academicians have been invested with the authority to approve state-level research grants involving hundreds of millions of yuan. They are also invited to sit on powerful government committees.
Lobbying
The Weihui Daily said that in principle applying for research fund is subject to a rigorous process of review based on the merit of the research itself, but in actual fact, key decisions lie with a few senior academicians who tend to give the money to those projects they have a stake in.
Although the nominal wages of an academician is only about 10,000 to 18,000 yuan (US$1,563-2,812) a month, the post is coveted for the influence its holder could leverage.
This explains why some schools or regions would go to great lengths to have their own academicians so that their interests could be better represented. This usually involves expensive public relations campaign and lobbying.
Li Xia is a researcher at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, whose studies focus on the allocation of research funds in China.
Li noted in a recent interview with Wenhui Daily that since there is great unevenness in development between the east and west, often the number of academicians in one single university in Shanghai could far surpass the total number in one whole province or region in the west.
These regions often finance expensive campaigns to have some researchers elected to CAS or CAE, or offer enormous financial benefits to attract existing academicians.
Thus precious research funds that could have been committed to more worthy endeavors such as research are diverted to some already highly privileged individuals.
What was originally an academic title is so sought after that in recent years a high proportion of ambitious government officials and corporate executives have been elected, provoking public dissatisfaction, and vows on the part of CAS and CAE to clean up the process.
There is progress.
Responding to media exposes of the high proportion of official and corporate figures among the CAS-CAE candidates earlier this year, the relevant authority later rejected some candidates who had not made adequate academic contributions.
But it would be a tough job to make academicians less privileged.
It is reported that an academician generally enjoys perks in housing, medical care, and use of a car - comparable to the extra benefits at the vice ministerial level official.
Such perks are definitely the envy of their overseas counterparts.
For instance, in England, the privileges of members to the Royal Society largely center on greater access to books and reference materials.
After winning the Nobel Prize, a Chinese scientist conducting research in an American university got a reserved parking space on the school campus as an encouragement.
Privileges
Li, the researcher into funding allocations, believes that de-officializing academicians would be difficult because "administrative interventions have long ago polluted the academic review structure."
As an academician in China today is far overvalued relative to his or her real contribution, Li suggests drastically increasing the number of positions to make them less coveted.
Only by playing down an academic post as a source of political advancement and financial reward could we hope academicians would exemplify the virtues preached by idealists.
In addressing freshmen early this month, president of Fudan University Yang Yuliang again warned students against utilitarian attitudes.
"Utilitarianism might inflate research data or the scale of a school campus, but it might otherwise erode the scholarly spirit and sense of social responsibility," Yang said.
He pointed out that this utilitarianism would affect student choices and priorities, making them shortsighted and mediocre, unwilling to seriously pursue their interests and unable to shoulder important responsibilities in the future. Well said, but apparently what students lack today is not good precepts, but role models.
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