Ministry of Science and Technology: Give Full Play to the Innovative Driving Force of National Laboratories

Ye Yujiang, Director-General of the Department of Basic Research of the Ministry of Science and Technology, Guo Zhiwei, Deputy Director-General of the Department of Basic Research, Gao Runsheng, Deputy Director-General of the Department of Science and Technology of the Ministry of Education, and Wang Ying, Deputy Director-General of the Bureau of Frontier Sciences and Education of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, attended the meeting. Directors (deputy directors) of the Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics (under construction), the Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences (under construction), the Hefei National Laboratory for Microscale Material Science (under construction), the Tsinghua National Laboratory for Information Science and Technology (under construction), the Shenyang National Laboratory for Materials Science (Joint Laboratory), and the Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics (under construction), as well as representatives from their respective affiliated institutions, participated in the meeting.

The meeting fully affirmed the achievements made by the national laboratories since their establishment. The six national laboratories (under construction) have gathered a group of outstanding talents and innovative teams, achieving significant results in terms of producing research results, cultivating talent, and establishing mechanisms, accumulating experience for further national laboratory construction. The meeting studied the new requirements put forward by the central government for national laboratories and deployed relevant arrangements for the next step of summarizing, accepting, and evaluating the national laboratories (under construction). The meeting concluded that conducting a summary, acceptance, and evaluation of the national laboratories (under construction) and deploying the next steps is in line with objective reality and practical needs, and all parties should take initiative, act proactively, and solidly carry out relevant work.

Vice Minister Huang Wei emphasized the importance of thoroughly reviewing and evaluating the six national laboratories (under construction). He stressed that these laboratories should focus on the future, building upon their existing strengths in various disciplines to develop comprehensive interdisciplinary research tailored to the characteristics of basic research in the era of big science. They should conduct strategic, forward-looking, and cutting-edge basic research, leading and driving development in related fields, providing a source of impetus for the implementation of the innovation-driven development strategy, and making greater contributions to building a world-class science and technology power.