Notice of the Ministry of Science and Technology on Issuing the 2023 Annual Project Application Guide for National Key R&D Plan “Research on Key Technologies of Biosafety”

Notice of the Ministry of Science and Technology on Issuing the 2023 Annual Project Application Guide for National Key R&D Plan “Research on Key Technologies of Biosafety”

1. Project organization and application workflow

1. The application unit is organized in the form of a project according to the research content of the guideline direction, and the project can be subordinated to a topic. The project should be applied as a whole, and must cover all the assessment indicators of the corresponding guide direction. There is one person in charge of the project, and one person in charge of each topic, and the project leader can be in charge of one of the topics.
2. Integrate advantageous innovation teams and actively involve female researchers in project R&D, focus on the tasks of the guidelines, strengthen the integration of basic research, common key technology research and development and typical application demonstration tasks, concentrate efforts and joint research. Encourage capable female researchers as project (subject) leaders to take the lead in the task.
3. The application process of the National Key R&D Program is divided into two parts: pre-application and formal application, and the specific workflow is as follows.

–Fill out the pre-application form. Project application unit according to the relevant application requirements, through the national science and technology management information system public service platform (http://service.most.gov.cn, hereinafter referred to as “national science and technology management system”) to fill out and submit about 3,000 words of the project pre-application, detailing the objectives of the applied project The pre-application form should detail the objectives and targets of the applied project, briefly explain the innovative ideas, technical lines and research basis. From the date of publication of the guidelines to the deadline of acceptance of the pre-application form, not less than 50 days should be allowed.

The pre-application should include relevant agreements and commitments. The project leader should sign a joint application agreement with all participating units and specify the time of signing the agreement; the project leader, the subject reporting unit, the project leader and the subject leader should sign a letter of commitment to integrity, and the project leader and all participating units should implement the “Opinions on Further Strengthening the Construction of Scientific Research Integrity” and “Opinions on Further Promoting the Scientist’s Spirit and Strengthening the Work Style and Academic Style” and other requirements to strengthen the integrity of scientific research. The lead unit and all participating units shall implement the “Opinions on Further Strengthening the Construction of Scientific Research Integrity” and “Opinions on Further Promoting the Scientist’s Spirit and Strengthening the Work Style and Academic Style” and other requirements, and strengthen the examination and control of the application materials to eliminate exaggeration and falsity.

Pre-application must be recommended by the relevant units. Each recommending unit should strengthen the examination and control of the recommended project application materials and submit the recommended projects through the national science management system on time.

Professional organizations will accept the pre-applications and organize the first round of evaluation. To ensure a reasonable degree of competition, for a single guideline direction of non-directional application, if the number of applied teams is not more than the number of projects to be supported, the guideline direction will not start the subsequent project review and establishment procedures, and the guidelines will be re-researched and released at a later date. Professional organizations organize the formal review and carry out the first round of evaluation according to the application. The first round of evaluation does not require the project leader to defend. According to the evaluation results of experts, 3-4 times the number of projects to be applied will be selected to enter the defense review. For projects that do not enter the defense evaluation, the evaluation results will be timely feedback to the project application unit and the person in charge.

–Fill out the official application form. For project applications that pass the first round of evaluation and directly enter the defense evaluation, fill out and submit the formal application of the project through the national science management system, and the formal application is accepted within 30 days.

Professional institutions accept the formal application and organize the defense evaluation. The professional institution will review the form of the project application form and organize the defense evaluation. The person in charge of the applied project defends the report via web video. The projects are selected based on the expert evaluation. For the support of 1-2 guidelines direction, in principle, only support 1, such as the defense review results of the top two applied projects with similar evaluation and significantly different technical routes, can be established at the same time to support, and establish a dynamic adjustment mechanism, combined with the process management to carry out the assessment of key nodes, according to the results of the assessment to determine the way of follow-up support.

2.Organization of the application of the recommended unit

1. the relevant departments of the State Council departments and bureaus in charge of science and technology;
2. the provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the Central Government, municipalities under the plan and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps in charge of science and technology departments;
3. the former industrial sector converted to the establishment of industry associations;
4. industrial technology innovation strategy alliances included in the pilot scope of the Ministry of Science and Technology and evaluated as Class A, as well as the pilot alliances of the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Finance for the innovative development of the science and technology service industry.

Each recommending unit should be recommended within the scope of its function and business, and be responsible for the authenticity of the recommended projects, etc. The list of recommended units is publicly released on the national science and technology management system.

3. Qualification requirements for application

1. The project lead reporting unit and participating units should be registered research institutes, universities and enterprises in mainland China, with independent legal personality, registered before June 30, 2022, with strong scientific and technological research and development capabilities and conditions, and standardized operation and management. State agencies may not lead or participate in the application.

The project leader, the participating units and team members should be in good standing and have no record of serious breach of trust in scientific research or credit “blacklist” records in the relevant social fields during the disciplinary period.

The same project can only be applied by a single recommended unit, not multiple applications and duplicate applications.

2. The person in charge of the project (subject) must have a senior title or doctorate degree, born after January 1, 1963, and must not spend less than 6 months working on the project each year.
3. the person in charge of the project (subject) should, in principle, the project (subject) the main research ideas and the actual scientific and technical personnel who led the research. Central and local state organs at all levels of public officials (including the exercise of science and technology program management functions of other personnel) shall not apply the project (subject).
4. experts involved in the implementation of key special projects or the preparation of this year’s project guidelines, in principle, cannot apply for the key special projects (topics).
5. Foreign scientists and scientists from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan who are employed in mainland units can be the project (subject) leaders. Full-time employed persons must be provided with valid documents of full-time employment by the mainland employing units, and part-time employed persons must be provided with valid documents of employment by both units, and submitted together with the project pre-application materials.
6. After the acceptance of the project, in principle, the reporting unit and the person in charge cannot be changed.
7. See Annex 1 for more details on the requirements of the project application, and before submitting the project application formally, each reporting unit can use the national science and technology management system to check the status of the relevant research personnel undertaking the key projects of the National Key Research and Development Program, Science and Technology Innovation 2030 – Major Projects, etc., to avoid duplicate applications.
8. Specific application requirements are detailed in the application guidelines, and special regulations will be followed.

4. Project management reform initiatives

1. About the “unveiling of the list to hang” project. In order to effectively improve the performance of scientific research investment and strengthen the “combat” of major innovation results, the key R & D program focuses on national strategic needs, application-oriented, clear end-user tasks, the establishment of “unveiling” project. The role of the end-user is highlighted, and the management methods such as signing “military orders” and “milestone” assessment are implemented. No registration time requirement for the unveiling unit, no age, education and title requirement for the unveiling team leader, encourage the advantageous team with confidence and ability to organize the key core technology to actively apply. The amount of funding for the tasks of the list is clearly defined, the budgeting is simplified, and the “negative list” is explored in the management of funds.
2. About young scientist project, in order to create more opportunities for young researchers to organize and implement national goal-oriented major R&D tasks, the Key R&D Program established the Young Scientist Program. According to the characteristics of the field and special projects, there are various ways to set up young scientist projects or young scientist topics under the projects. The Young Scientist Program does not require full coverage of the guidelines, does not set up topics, and in principle does not organize budget evaluation, encouraging young scientists to boldly explore more innovative and disruptive new methods and new paths to better serve the overall objectives of the program.
3. about the ministry-province linkage. Some of the special tasks will be combined with the major strategic deployment of the country and the major needs of regional industrial development, and will be implemented in a joint ministry-province way, with the department and the local community working together to condense the needs, joint inputs and collaborative management, and the local community introducing special policies to undertake the project results, and to promote the output and transformation of major scientific and technological achievements in the project organization and implementation.
4. on technology readiness (TRL) management. For the technical system is clear, quantitative assessment indicators clear direction of the relevant tasks, the “14th Five-Year Plan” key R & D program to explore the implementation of technology readiness management. The application guide will specify the technical readiness requirements, and in the subsequent evaluation of the project, assessment and evaluation of the inclusion of technical readiness indicators, scientific “milestone” assessment nodes, strict control of project implementation progress and risk, to ensure high-quality output.

5. Specific application methods

1. Online filing. Please fill in the application online through the national science management system as required. Professional organizations will use the online application form as the basis for subsequent formal review and project evaluation. All the annexes required in the application materials will be uploaded in electronic scanned copies.

The time for the project application unit to fill in the pre-application form online is from 8:00 on August 17th to 16:00 on September 15th, 2023, and for the projects to enter the defense and evaluation process, the application unit will fill in the official application form and submit it through the NSCM system as required, and the specific time and requirements will be notified.

2. Organizational recommendation. Please confirm the recommended projects item by item and upload the recommendation letter with the official seal of the recommending unit in electronic scanned copy before September 19, 16:00.
3. Technical consultation telephone and email:

010-58882999 (trunk line), program@istic.ac.cn.