مقاله سال ۲۰۱۶

Research infrastructures (RIs) have become a topic of interest and priority among funders, political bodies, and (increasingly) institutional decision makers (Lossau, 2012). Currently, with the increasing importance of RIs to science and technology development as well as to enhancing competiveness, the economic and social value of RIs has taken on even greater consequence for both developed and developing countries. Over the last half century, RIs have become an important instrument in the exploration of the frontiers of science and technology, and they have aided in the realization public value and the support of social needs. According to European Commission (2010), RIs are in the center of the knowledge triangle of research, education and innovation and serve as the most important carrier of valuable new knowledge. Thus, both developed and developing countries devote resources to building and updating RIs in scientific frontiers (ESFRI, 2006; Research Councils, 2010; Office of Science, DOE, 2003; CSC, 2013). RIs are expected to endow countries with the capability to produce world-class research to improve economic and social outcomes. In the catching-up situation, the RIs are even more important for emerging countries that want to surpass developed countries in the science and technology fields.

As a country with an emerging scientific and technological presence, China has devoted tremendous efforts to the development of RIs to support innovation-driven development. Consequently, China has played an increasingly important role in the construction and application of RIs around the world since RI construction began in China with the atomic and hydrogen bomb projects and the man-made satellite project. In China, RIs are usually described as large scientific engineering projects that are built primarily under the auspices of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), which is one of top academic research institutes in China. Due to the need for scientific and technological breakthroughs, as well as the innovation-driven development in China, RIs attract more attention and obtain more investment from the Chinese government than they have in the past. Because of the high cost of RIs and the important role they pay in economic and social development, both policy makers and officials of funding agencies are increasingly relying on formal and systematic evaluation procedures to make key decisions about implementing new projects and programs or about upgrading or even terminating existing projects. In terms of the construction of RIs, scientific effects should be a primary consideration in policy making regarding the development and management of RIs.