Lawmakers are legislating for the first time to allow scientists
to report failures during the innovation process without blotting
their records in future funding applications.
They say they want to lift some of the pressure on scientists to
only report successes. They promote this in order to create a
better environment that enhances innovations.
Legislators are discussing a draft amendment to the Law on
Science and Technology Progress that states: "Scientists and
technicians who have initiated research with a high risk of failure
will still have their expenses covered if they can provide evidence
that they have tried their best even though they failed to achieve
their goals."
Science and Technology Minister Wan Gang, explaining the draft
to lawmakers, told lawmakers that scientific and technological
development depends on the creativity to innovate. Innovation
requires a relaxed academic atmosphere that enables scientists and
technicians to feel comfortable taking scientific risks.
High performance pressure has been blamed for contributing to
the rampant academic frauds in China, scientists say.
Xu Jialu, vice-chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC)
Standing Committee, said on Monday that when a project failed, the
technicians were always under heavy pressure. They feared that
their reputations would suffer; future research funding would dry
up.
"I suggest an additional clause in the draft bill stating that
failure in research and innovation will not affect the researcher's
ability to continue to apply for research funds," said Xu.
Chen Nanxian, a member of the NPC Standing Committee, said that
experiences drawn from failures were themselves valuable. The draft
should include a clause reading, "Scientists and technicians are
encouraged to shoulder the responsibility of failure and summarize
their experiences from the failure."
President Hu Jintao outlined major strategic tasks for building
an innovation-oriented country in January.
He said that innovation oriented laws, regulations and
scientific and technological development plans should be improved,
to create "a favorable mechanism" to inspire future
resourcefulness.
Before the law revisions were begun, entrepreneurs and
scientists were suggesting that a more relaxed academic environment
was necessary in order to encourage independent innovation.
Bai Chunli, vice-president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences
(CAS), said there was an atmosphere of fear of failure in the
scientific fields, which was harmful for modernization.
"It's difficult to make achievements in independent innovation
if the scientific research departments and scientists don't
tolerate failures," Bai said.
The scientific research process is always a mixture of success
and failure; many failures could lead to one success.
Supporters of a change in official attitudes cited the case of
Thomas Edison, the US inventor of the electric light bulb, among
other devices. They explained that he failed more than 1,000 times
before finding the right material to make the filament.
Zhou Houjian, the chairman of the domestic electric appliance
producer Hisense, said that the success of his company depended on
tolerance of failure during technical innovation.
"The regulation for tolerance towards scientists and technicians
to fail encourages more challenging research projects, " he
said.
The draft law is expected to be voted upon after further
opinions in academic circles are solicited.
(Xinhua News Agency August 28, 2007)