Counting the Ten Years of Education in China： The reform and development of scientific and technological innovation in colleges and universities have achieved remarkable results

　　At today’s "1+1" series press conference on "Ten Years of Education", the Department of Science, Technology and Information Technology of the Ministry of Education said that since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the Ministry of Education has successively issued and implemented the 12th Five-Year Plan for the development of science and technology in institutions of higher learning, and organized and implemented a number of major actions such as the plan for improving innovation ability, the independent innovation action in key areas and the plan for basic research on Mount Everest. The ability of scientific and technological innovation in colleges and universities has been greatly improved, the reform of system and mechanism has been continuously deepened, and remarkable results have been achieved in serving the major needs of the country, which has made irreplaceable and important contributions to the construction of an innovative country and a powerful country in education and science and technology.

　　The ranks of scientific and technological talents have grown stronger.. In the past ten years, the group of strategic scientists and leading talents in colleges and universities has grown steadily. More than 40% academicians of the two academies and nearly 70% winners of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars have gathered in colleges and universities. Cultivating high-quality innovative talents through high-level scientific research has supported the training of millions of master’s and doctoral students.

　　Scientific and technological innovation resourcesspeed upassemble.In the past ten years, the R&D (research and development) funds in colleges and universities have increased from 76.87 billion yuan in 2012 to 159.2 billion yuan in 2021, and the total amount of funds allocated in the past ten years has reached trillions. The funds entrusted by enterprises and institutions increased from 39.18 billion yuan in 2012 to 84.75 billion yuan in 2021, an increase of over 116%. The full-time equivalent of R&D personnel in scientific and technological activities in colleges and universities has increased from 209,000 person-years in 2012 to 334,000 person-years in 2021, an increase of nearly 60%.

　　The innovation platform system is more perfect.In the past ten years, universities have taken the lead in building more than 60% of the state key laboratories of disciplines and 30% of the national engineering (technology) research centers; Aiming at the forefront of science and technology in the world and the major needs of the country, the Ministry of Education has actively laid out and built 25 frontier science centers, 14 platforms for tackling key problems in key areas, 38 national-level collaborative innovation centers, and more than 1,500 platforms such as key laboratories of the Ministry of Education, engineering research centers and collaborative innovation centers jointly built by provinces and ministries.

　　The contribution of scientific and technological innovation is more significant.In the past ten years, colleges and universities have won 6 out of all 10 national natural science first prizes, accounting for 67% of all natural science prizes, and have won the national natural science first prizes in recent three years, which is a veritable main force in basic research. In the past ten years, colleges and universities have won 10 of all 11 first prizes for national technological inventions, 72% of all technological inventions, and two special prizes for national scientific and technological progress, becoming the source of major scientific and technological breakthroughs.

　　The ability to transform results has been significantly improved.In the past ten years, the number of patents granted in colleges and universities has increased from 69,000 to 308,000, an increase of 346.4%, and the authorization rate has increased from 65.1% to 83.9%. The number of patent transfer and licensing contracts has increased from more than 2,000 to 15,000, and the amount of patent conversion has increased from 820 million yuan to 8.89 billion yuan, an increase of nearly 10 times, which has not only achieved quantitative growth, but also achieved qualitative improvement, transforming more scientific and technological achievements into real productive forces.

　　International scientific and technological cooperation is more extensive.. In the past ten years, colleges and universities have sent nearly 400,000 people to participate in international scientific and technological cooperation research, attended 1.74 million international academic conferences, published 187,000 specially invited reports and exchanged 883,000 papers. Colleges and universities have extensively carried out in-depth international cooperation with foreign high-level universities and research institutions, and built more than 70 joint laboratories for international cooperation, which has become an important window and bridge for international scientific and technological cooperation.

　　(CCTV reporter Xue Chen Zhao Yingchen)