Shanghai's leading role in ensuring China's global preeminence in basic scientific research got off to a stellar start this year, with four major papers published in a single issue of the prestigious journal Cell in late January.

The papers were from teams at the Synthetic Science Innovation Research Center at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, or SJTU, the Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the CAS' Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology.

Also, in the first two months of this year, researchers from Shanghai's Fudan University published six papers in the world's top three journals — Cell, Nature and Science — while another four papers have been accepted. As of early March, researchers from SJTU had published seven papers in these journals.

All the research projects focused on significant scientific questions and clear prospects for industrial applications.

With the surge in these publications, Zhao Weishu, an associate researcher at SJTU's School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, believes the brightest era for the country's basic research is about to arrive.

"With the current breadth of research, sample size, and industrialization capabilities, we are on the verge of a qualitative leap — perhaps a landmark scientific event, such as the emergence of a new theory. This should be something that all scientists work together toward," Zhao said.

"And amid this wave of scientific research, Shanghai, as an important center of basic research in China, shoulders the mission to promote breakthroughs with innovation at the source," she said.

Members from the Synthetic Science Innovation Research Center at Shanghai Jiao Tong University return from their expedition in December 2021. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Academic freedom

Since 2014, when Shanghai began to build itself into an international science and technology innovation center, the city's total investment in basic research has grown by 13.8 percent every year.

Last year alone, the proportion of the city's investment in research and development reached about 11 percent, higher than the national level of 6.91 percent.

This year's Shanghai Government Work Report proposed speeding up the construction of basic research pilot zones, strengthening organized scientific research, and continuing support for high-risk, high-value research.

Shanghai's adherence to large-scale, long-term investment to support scientists conducting high-risk, high-value, and long-cycle research is beginning to pay off, experts said.

Outstanding young scientists in Shanghai are aiming to make breakthroughs and provide solutions to academic challenges and benefit the world.

"A large number of outstanding talented people, especially the young and middle-aged who are at the peak of their creativity, have returned to China in the past decade," said Jin Shi, dean of the Institute of Natural Sciences at SJTU.

"Their return represents the future, and is an important sign of the vitality of Chinese science," he said.

The main factors behind the influx of talent include the government's unrelenting support for scientific research, and the increasing internationalization of local universities, with a growing emphasis on scientific research.

Providing researchers with a good working environment and allowing them to explore freely are decisive factors in achieving real scientific breakthroughs, experts said.

Jin said Isaac Newton's discovery of the law of universal gravitation was not the result of a "boss" instructing the English physicist to discover the theory in three months.

The dean cited the difference between scientific research and engineering to further illustrate this point.

"When it comes to engineering, I can specify that the workers must build this building within three months. However, scientific research is spontaneous, with no one being able to dictate how it should be done," said Jin. "It's entirely up to the scientist to figure it out, without any set plan."

When recruiting a researcher, Jin said they look for individuals recognized by their international peers. Once recruited, they are not required to report frequently to their superiors and their work is not interfered with, Jin said.

Also, scientists at the institute are not restricted to publishing research papers only in their field. In March, a mathematics professor and a physics professor jointly published a paper in Physical Review Letters, a top physics journal. "We encourage interdisciplinary research. As long as they can do something truly impactful, we think it's fantastic," Jin said.

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