时代不同了，到中国去——西方科学家到中国做学生做工[英文]

sweetspot · 发表于 2006-4-20 21:34

Researchers Go East, to China

Timothy J. ReynoldsUnited Kingdom14 April 2006

Experience in an overseas laboratory is an important part of careerdevelopment for research scientists and part of the fabric of modern science.But, although many thousand Chinese PhD students and postdocs go abroad tostudy and research every year, very few non-Chinese nationals have made thereverse trip to live and pursue research in China.

But thanks to a strengthening economy, opportunities for internationalcollaboration with Chinese universities have never been better. Manyinitiatives are in place to promote scientific networking with China. TheEuropean Union-funded CO-REACH initiative, for example, is a consortium of 12national bilateral research programmes with China that commands a combinedannual budget of €12 million. China's language and culture remain substantialobstacles to pursuing a career in the country, if only due to the perceptionsof Western scientists; still, some Western researchers have pulled if off,finding in China a challenging but generally friendly research environment. "You will need to be motivated and determined, as you would to do scienceanywhere," says Beijing-based British molecular biologist Sarah Perrett. "Butthe experience of living and working in China can be extremely rewarding."

Pioneers

UK materials chemist David Evans has been working at the Beijing University ofChemical Technology （BUCT） for a decade. Evans's first extended researchexperience in China was in 1996 when he worked for a year as a visitingscholar at BUCT. Following that, he took up an invitation to join the faculty.His relationship with scientists in China started as a lecturer at theUniversity of Exeter when he made a series of short trips to collaborate withBUCT experts on his principal research interest: layered inorganic materials."At the time, China did not attract the attention it does today," says Evans."My move was described as 'brave’ by more polite colleagues in the UK."

Another European pioneer is Veronique Prinet, a French computer scientist whoventured to China early in her career. Prinet's home institution--the InstitutNational de Recherche en Inxxxxatique et en Automatique （INRIA） near Paris--has a long-standing collaboration with the Chinese Academy of Sciences （CAS）Institute of Automation （IoA）. After obtaining her PhD in 1999, she obtained aCAS postdoctoral position at IoA using an INRIA scholarship. In 2000, shesecured an associate professor position at IoA in a competitive search. She isthe first foreigner to be appointed to the CAS staff.

Language and Culture

Prinet says that before she came to IoA, she knew "next to nothing about China" and spoke no Chinese. During her first semester in China, she studiedChinese part-time at QinghuaUniversity, but her language skills, she says,mainly developed at work during chats with her IoA colleagues.

In contrast, Sarah Perrett spent time studying Chinese before her arrival.Perrett, who works on the molecular mechanism of prion xxxxation at the CASInstitute of BioPhysics （IBP）, also in Beijing, first visited IBP in 1997during a holiday to China while she was a research fellow in Cambridge, U.K.She gave a talk at the institute and was so impressed by the laboratoryfacilities and the research staff that her eyes opened to the possibility ofdoing research in China. Perrett returned to IBP the following year on a 2-week Royal Society-funded "study visit" and was offered a position in thelaboratory of Jun-Mei Zhou. Subsequently, she was awarded a Royal Society Post-Doctoral Fellowship–-the first time this long-established award had beengiven for work in China.

With the continued support of her Cambridge fellowship and other grants,Perrett was able to spend a year studying Chinese full-time at the NationalUniversity of Singapore; she was reasonably fluent before joining Zhou’sgroup in September 2000."This was crucial to the success of my integrationinto the system. All the other staff at the institute are Chinese," saysPerrett.

Although Perrett took learning the language very seriously, she believes thatnowadays Chinese language skills are less necessary. Thanks to a succession ofgovernment initiatives to bring Chinese academics working abroad back home,the scientific environment in China is increasingly bilingual. Prinet speaksChinese, but her Chinese students have good English, so, she says, English isfrequently the common language for discussions.

But language skills are also important to open doors outside the lab. "Youwould miss a lot of the experience" of living in China, says Evans, "withoutany Chinese." To fully appreciate the experience, you need to immerse yourselfin the Chinese environment and adopt Chinese habits, say our researchers. "Buy your bicycle, master the chopsticks, and immerse yourself in the culture,"Prinet recommends.

"China is a different world, and you have to be flexible and open-minded. Itis very different to Europe or the US. With China, it is true to say that youeither love the country and culture or you hate it--there is no middle ground," Evans says.

Academic Salaries

Chinese research salaries are not generous by Western standards; on average,group leaders earn about 5000 yuan a month, which is roughly equivalent to US$625. In recent years, the pay scale has become more flexible; Chinesereturnee scientists, for example, can command about twice the standard salary.The cost of living is about four times lower than in Europe, although somefinancial issues, like the prohibitive cost of international schools andprovisions for a suitable pension, can be difficult for foreign researchersworking long-term in China.

Appreciating Science

One aspect of Chinese culture that works to the advantage of scientists, saysPrinet, is that in China scientists are highly respected: "Scientific researchis seen as very important here. The investment in R&D is huge, and there is avery dynamic atmosphere. There is room to develop scientific ideas in a trulystimulating environment. China is a place where science is appreciated, wherescientific advance is seen as a first step toward a better life."

There are also some advantages to the Chinese approach to research, says Evans, noting that his research department is more in tune than most Westernacademic departments with scientific entrepreneurship. The department takes aninterdisciplinary approach involving chemists and chemical engineers andlinks fundamental research and application closely. In-house pilot-plantfacilities allow scale-up of processes and products for fast commercialdevelopment--something, Evans says, that is more problematic in Europeanacademe.

Investment in Science

Of course the country's fast-growing economy doesn't hurt the scientificcommunity. "China is certainly developing very fast," says Evans. "In lessthan 10 years, it had doubled the percentage of GDP [gross domestic product]spent on R&D to around 1.3%." This is still lower than the US, Japan, and mostof Europe, but, Evans says, "in cash terms, research funding has risen veryrapidly indeed, allowing renewal of laboratories and equipment." The last R&Dexpenditure figures--from 2004--from the Chinese Ministry of Science andTechnology show a gross domestic R&D expenditure of 196.6 billion yuan （approximately US $24.6 billion）--1.23% of GDP--compared to 0.76% of GDP spentin 1999. China plans to increase spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2020. So althoughR&D expenditure in China is still low relative to the United States （which hasan annual R&D investment on the order of US $250 billion） and Europe, thegrowth in R&D spending is strong.

Establishing a Career in China

Alastair Murchie just accepted an offer as a principal investigator at theInstitute of Biomedical Science （IBS） at Fudan University in Shanghai. Murchie’s wife is Chinese, so he's no stranger to China. When he was interviewed forhis position at IBS last year, the work environment he encountered "justknocked me for six," he says. Following a highly competitive interview process, Murchie was given an offer that was "too good to refuse." He will bestarting up a new department in a brand-new building with a state-of-the-artlaboratory that is fully funded for 3 years. "The support and commitment toscience in the long term in China is clear and impressive," says Murchie. Thiscontrasts with his recent experience in the UK of the struggle to "squeezefunding out of the Research Councils or the EU." What has really impressed himis his students' tremendous enthusiasm and capacity for hard work. Science inChina was underfunded in the past, but, he says, Chinese scientists areincreasingly publishing in high-impact journals.

Establishing a scientific career in China, as in the rest of the world,requires time, hard work, and support from senior scientists. "To become fullyestablished, you need someone senior to support you," says Perrett. One placethis matters a lot is in obtaining funding. The overall funding rate forgrants from the Chinese National Natural Science Foundation is about 10% to 15%, but Perrett has achieved about a 50% success rate so far, which is typicalof researchers in her institute. She has benefited from senior academicsupport, especially by their willingness to include her in larger programmegrants. Still, writing and defending the applications in Chinese is tough, shesays, "but I wouldn’t expect it to be easy in the UK or elsewhere. In fact,I find the documentation for EU funding harder to fathom than Chinese."

Murchie managed to reestablish an academic career, mid-career, in China. Thisisn't easy anywhere, and Murchie appreciates the flexibility he hasencountered. Before obtaining his position at IBS, he worked for many years atbiotech and drug-discovery companies in Europe. In the UK, his return toacademia would, he thinks, have been much more challenging. "Returning toacademia mid-career is not the easiest thing to do in the current Europeanenvironment," he says.

Getting Published

Western scientists may worry that scientists in China would not be free topublish, but this hasn't been Perrett's experience. "In terms of academicfreedom, scientists are able to work on whatever interests them," subject tofunding, just as in the West. She adds, "The emphasis seems to be as much onhigh-impact publications as [on] topics of ‘national importance.’ "

Advice

Perrett's advice for those considering "taking the plunge" in China: "Applyfor fellowship funding; many countries now have schemes for exchanges withChina, from a few weeks to 2 years. Having your own funding gives you morefreedom, eases any lifestyle issues, and is a help to your host institution."

This, she adds "is also a good first step if you are considering working inChina longer term." Evans says it is relatively easy to make contact withChinese universities and to set up lecture tours. Funding for such visits isavailable, he says, from many European bodies. He also suggests visitingdifferent parts of China to get a feeling for the country and the level ofresearch funding, which does vary from region to region.

Now that she has established an independent research group at IBP andsuccessfully competed for Chinese government grants, Perrett says that themove to China was positive for her professional development. "It is anexciting opportunity to see what science in China is like and to collaboratewith Chinese scientists," she says.

"Gaining experience through international collaboration is a normal part ofthe postdoc career," she concludes. "Today, there is no reason why it shouldn’t be in China--and there is a lot to be gained by both sides."

Timothy J. Reynolds is a freelance writer based in Brussels and the UK.

Li2 · 发表于 2006-4-21 12:55

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