（September 18, 2021）

SMPG G [2021] No.22

Attention: all district people's governments, all commissions, offices, and bureaus of the Municipal People’s Government:

In order to further play the role of basic research in the source supply and leadership of scientific and technological innovation, promote Shanghai to strengthen its innovation engine and accelerate the formation of the core function of a scientific and technological innovation  with global influence, in accordance with the essence of relevant national documents, we now put forward several opinions on accelerating the promotion of high-quality development of basic research as follows:

I. General Requirements

Guided by Xi Jinping’s Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, fully implement the spirit of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th Plenary Sessions of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, carry out in earnest the essence of the important speeches made by the General Secretary Xi Jinping during the visit of Shanghai and at the 30th Anniversary Celebration Conference for Pudong Opening up and Development, adhere to facing the frontiers of world science and technology, facing the main economic battlefield, facing the major needs of the country, and facing the people's life and health, insist on the combination of free exploration and strategic orientation, optimize the overall layout of basic research and development environment, create the power of science and technology strategies, stimulate the vitality of innovation subjects, strengthen the team of basic research talents, provide strong support for Shanghai to enhance the source function of scientific and technological innovation, and contribute to the realization of high-level scientific and technological self-reliance in our country.

By 2025, Shanghai’s basic research expenditures shall account for about 12% of the total social R&D expenditures. The capabilities to undertake major national basic scientific research tasks and solve industrial goal-oriented scientific problems shall be significantly enhanced, and a number of frontier-oriented areas achieved, a number of major scientific issues facing the strategic needs of the country be solved, a number of major basic scientific research bases and facilities be built, and the full-cycle management mechanisms such as topic selection, funding, project management, and talent evaluation that are compatible with basic research laws be built in taking the lead, and efforts shall be made to become a world leader and a new highland of scientific discovery in several important basic research fields.

II. Basic Principles

1. Originality first. Focus on major scientific issues condensed in basic frontier fields and economic and social development practices, strengthen basic research "from 0 to 1", encourage cross-field and cross-disciplinary research, open up new fields, propose new theories, and develop new methods.

2. Talents are prioritized. Follow the law of talent development, pay attention to the optimization of the structure of the scientific research team, gather talents with a global perspective, attach importance on cultivating leading talents, young talents and innovation teams, encourage scientific researchers to boldly explore and be creative, and strive to make Shanghai a growth and gathering place for high-level talents in global basic research.

3. Perseverance. Increase investment in basic disciplines and basic research, optimize the investment structure, and establish long-term support mechanisms for basic disciplines and basic frontier fields that are related to long-term development. Improve the evaluation mechanism of projects, institutions and talents in the field of basic research, and guide scientific researchers to carry out long-term research with concentration.

4. Open cooperation. Give full play to the advantages of openness, deepen regional innovation cooperation, expand domestic and international partner networks, carry out high-level global scientific and technological innovation cooperation and exchanges, promote cross-regional and cross-field basic research cooperation, support the building of new development patterns, and create new advantages in international cooperation and competition.

III. Key Measures

1. Optimize the layout of basic research

(1) Focusing on key disciplines and fields. Aim at the commanding heights of future technology and industrial development, focus on supporting basic disciplines such as mathematics, physics, chemistry, and biology, as well as strategic areas and major directions such as brain science and brain-inspired intelligence, quantum technology, transformative materials, and life regulation, and strengthen the emerging cross-cutting frontiers field layout and support.

(2) Establishing a pilot “basic research special zone”. Select some universities and scientific research institutes with outstanding basic research advantages, and provide long-term, stable and concentrated support for key fields and key teams. Give the “basic research special zone” full scientific research autonomy, support institutions to freely choose topics, organize themselves, and use funds independently, and provide sufficient space for reform and exploration in scientific research organization models and management systems and mechanisms.

(3) Improving basic research topic selection and task formation mechanism. Adhere to both free exploration and strategic orientation, form a mechanism for discovering and proposing original scientific problems, and a mechanism for condensing basic scientific problems from practices such as industrial upgrading and people's livelihood improving. Give full play to the function of the basic research strategy consulting expert committee, study and judge development trends, condense major needs, and provide strategic consulting for the formation of basic research projects and the deployment of major scientific tasks.

(4) Optimizing the basic research support system. Strengthen the forward-looking deployment of basic research projects, and implement major municipal-level science and technology special projects for major basic frontiers and strategically contested areas. Give full play to the foundational role of Shanghai Natural Science Foundation in supporting source innovation, expand the scale of projects, increase support for exploratory and riskful original basic research, and cultivate leading original results "from 0 to 1".

2. Consolidate basic research capabilities

(5) Building a systematic strategic scientific and technological force for basic research. Promote the Shanghai National Laboratory to focus on major strategic needs, carry out strategic, cutting-edge, and basic scientific research, continuously improve the ability to condense and solve major scientific problems, and build an important strategic scientific and technological force with a world-class level. Comprehensively strengthen the construction of the laboratory system, promote the optimization and reorganization of the State key laboratory in Shanghai, and improve the layout of the Shanghai key laboratory.

(6) Giving full play to the role of the main force of basic research in universities and scientific research institutes. Promote a comprehensive and systematic layout of basic disciplines, adhere to long-term construction and stable investment. Encourage universities and research institutes to actively build national basic science s and frontier science s, challenge the most cutting-edge scientific issues, and improve basic research capabilities in applied disciplines. Encourage universities and research institutes to break the boundaries of existing disciplines, promote interdisciplinary integration, gather superior resources, and form first-mover advantages in key areas.

(7) Promoting enterprises to strengthen basic research. Improve the R&D capabilities of enterprises, and encourage enterprises to carry out forward-looking basic research and applied basic research in the face of major scientific and technological issues of industrial development. Give full play to the role of the company as the issue maker, take the application as the lead, support the collaboration and integration of various innovation entities such as enterprises and universities, scientific research institutes, and jointly build various types of joint laboratories, collaborative innovation s, and post-doctoral scientific research workstations, and jointly participate in major scientific and technological projects. Strengthen the creation and reserve of independent intellectual property rights in key areas.

(8) Speeding up the construction of new basic research R&D institutions. Support domestic and overseas first-class universities and scientific research institutions, well-known enterprises, and high-level talent teams to establish new R&D institutions in Shanghai in accordance with the law. ing on basic frontier science, frontier leading technology, and disruptive technology, carry out original research and frontier cross-over research. Deepen the development of system innovation, take the lead in testing, give full autonomy to new research and development institutions, and support new research and development institutions to undertake major basic research tasks.

3. Strengthen the team of basic research talents

(9) Cultivating strategic science and technology talents and leading talents in science and technology. Focus on the major needs of the country, focus on basic disciplines and frontier cross-fields, establish a future-oriented mechanism for the introduction and cultivation of leading talents, and train a group of forward-looking and internationally insightful scientific researchers. Establish and improve the talent flow mechanism, and encourage the reasonable flow of talents among universities, scientific research institutes and enterprises.

(10) Strengthening the training of young and middle-aged and reserve scientific and technological talents. Implement a strong base incentive plan, build a group of strong base talent training highlands, and strengthen the construction of a reserve talent team for basic research. Focus on key areas and provide post-doctoral funding based on the best. For young and middle-aged scientific research talents with active thinking and strong sense of innovation, explore the implementation of an annual salary system and other systems. Implement the talent settlement project, and implement a rental subsidy system for qualified high-level talents and outstanding young talents in basic research fields.

(11) Building a high-level innovation team. Focus on the frontiers of science, rely on high-level innovation platforms such as major scientific and technological infrastructure, major scientific and technological projects, and new research and development institutions, vigorously attract and cultivate a group of innovative teams with international influence, encourage interdisciplinary and comprehensive cross-research, and strengthen collaborative cooperation.

4. Strengthen the support of basic scientific research conditions

(12) Building a world-class large scientific facility cluster. With the goal of improving original innovation capabilities and supporting major scientific and technological breakthroughs, accelerate the construction of the largest, most comprehensive and functional photonic large-scale scientific facility cluster in the country and the world, as well as micro-nano, life, ocean, energy and other scientific and technological infrastructures. Establish and improve the open sharing mechanism, improve the level of facility construction and operational efficiency, and provide important support for basic research.

(13) Strengthening independent research and development of scientific instruments and scientific research methods. Strengthen the independent design and development and specialized supply capabilities of major scientific instruments, support innovative breakthroughs in scientific research reagents and supporting methods, and accelerate the application and demonstration of domestic scientific instruments and experimental materials in basic research. Encourage the development of scientific computing, modeling and simulation, scientific experiment and other tool software to ensure the independent, safe and controllable R&D and design process. Promote the construction of scientific data s (libraries) and strengthen the open sharing of scientific data. Strengthen research on experimental animal technology and accelerate the creation of model animals and animal models for major diseases.

5. Deepen exchanges and cooperation at home and abroad

(14) Organizing and participating in the international science plan (engineering). Encourage scientific research institutions to actively participate in, explore and initiate international large-scale scientific projects (engineering), and strive to make breakthroughs in strategic areas such as brain science, astronomy, ocean, polar regions, and human phenotypes. Carry out a higher level of international cooperation and exchanges, and with the goal of exploring the unknown world and solving major global problems, enhance the influence in the international scientific and technological innovation system.

(15) Expanding domestic and international cooperation networks. Accelerate the flow and integration of innovative elements, promote the open sharing of innovative resources, build a regional innovation community in the Yangtze River Delta, and lead the Yangtze River Delta region to become an original innovation growth pole. Support important international scientific and technological organizations and well-known international scientific research institutions to establish headquarters or branches in Shanghai, and explore and initiate the establishment of new international scientific and technological organizations. Enhance the international influence of high-end academic platforms such as Pujiang Innovation Forum, World Top Scientist Forum, and World Artificial Intelligence Conference.

6. Optimize the development environment for basic research

(16) Strengthening organization and coordination and overall implementation. Strengthen the linkage between the city and the district, the coordination of the departments, coordinate the funding policies and management mechanisms of various scientific and technological programs to support basic research, and improve the basic research input in the statistical work system.

(17) Constructing diversified investment channels for government, enterprises and social forces. Optimize the investment structure of basic research funds, and increase the investment of municipal finance in basic research. Launch the "Explorer" program, guide and encourage qualified key enterprises to invest in joint scientific research plans with the government, and increase their investment in basic research. Guide and encourage enterprises and all walks of life to donate or set up science foundations, and eligible donations can enjoy the preferential policy of pre-tax deduction for public welfare donations in accordance with the regulations. Explore the establishment of a regional innovation and development joint fund jointly with the National Natural Science Foundation of China to attract and gather outstanding talents and resources in the field of basic research to enhance regional independent innovation capabilities.

(18) Optimizing the project management mechanism. Deepen the transformation of government functions in the scientific research field and the reform of "delegation, regulation, and service", and establish a scientific research management mechanism that takes trust as the prerequisite and integrity as the bottom line. Deeply promote the use of the "contract system" pilot program for basic research projects, and give scientific researchers greater autonomy in adjusting research programs, technical routes, and budget adjustments. Strengthen project classification management, explore the implementation of new project organization models such as "exposing the rankings" and "horse racing system", and form a systematic, diversified, scientific and efficient project classification management "toolbox".

(19) Improving the talent and achievement evaluation mechanism. For talents engaged in basic research, implement a representative work evaluation system, explore long-term evaluation and international peer evaluation, and establish a talent evaluation system oriented by academic contribution and value creation. Carry out classified evaluation of basic research results. For basic research projects, focus on evaluating the originality and scientific value of new discoveries, new principles, new methods, and new laws. For applied basic research projects, focus on evaluating the effectiveness and application value of key scientific issues in solving the economic and social development and major national needs.

(20) Strengthening the protection of intellectual property rights and the building of scientific research integrity. Improve the high-level intellectual property protection system that complies with internationally accepted standards, improve the distribution policy oriented to increase the value of knowledge, and increase the return on investment in basic research. Promote the building of scientific research integrity, and seriously investigate and deal with scientific research misconduct with a "zero tolerance" attitude. Strengthen the building of the style of work and study, and promote the scientist's spirit of patriotism, dedication, daring to be the first, honesty and trustworthiness, and indifference to fame and fortune.