对我国原创探索项目的思考——基于美国国家科学基金会原创探索类项目的实践分析

Insights on the Original Exploration Project at NSFC:Based on the Practical Analysis of Early-concept Grants for Exploratory Research at NSF

随着科学研究中各个学科间不断交叉融合及对变革性技术的追寻,前沿交叉探索性研究不断涌现,这些前瞻性、创新性甚至颠覆性的研究需要通过不同于常规项目的原创探索类项目获得资助。本文介绍了美国国家科学基金会(National Science Foundation,NSF)资助的早期概念探索项目(Early-concept Grants for Exploratory Research,EAGER),并通过部分受资助项目作为实例,分析阐述NSF原创项目的设立目的及资助范围。通过分析对比中美两国科学基金原创探索类项目设置的差异,结合我国自身基础研究发展的特点,针对国家自然科学基金对原创探索类项目的组织实施提出若干设想及建议。

The continuous fusion of various disciplines and the pursuit of transformative techniques promote the emergence of cutting-edge interdisciplinary research.These prospective,innovative or even disruptive research needs to be funded through original exploration grants that differ significantly from conventional ones.This article introduces the Early Concept for Exploratory Research(EAGER)funded by the National Science Foundation(NSF)and lists some funded projects as examples to illustrate the purpose and scope of funding of the EAGER project in the United States.By analyzing and comparing the differences in the setting of basic original research projects between China and the United States,and combining our own research and development characteristics,several ideas and suggestions on fund settings are proposed.