Reflections on science and technology evaluation in China

Currently, science and technology evaluation(S&T evaluation) has become a major concern in China. However, what is “S&T Evaluation”? What does the term “S&T Evaluation” mean internationally? What are the top priorities for the establishment of S&T evaluation system in China? For the issues above mentioned, the Chinese government officials, scientists and evaluators have not yet come to an agreement. The main idea this article discusses is that, given the significant expansion of public R&D funding in China, the need for understanding performance of the public R&D funding has become increasingly necessary and urgent. As a critical element in China’s innovation systems, public R&D performance evaluation seems to react more slowly than other aspects though it should be one of the top priorities for S&T evaluation in China. This article focuses on three interconnected aspects for public R&D performance evaluation: independence, credibility and utility, which are intrinsically linked and support the establishment of national R&D evaluation systems. The author attempts to open a discussion on the current debates about independence of evaluation, including the criteria to assess the independence of evaluation functions, different levels and types of independence for different situations and self-evaluations vs. independent evaluation. The article provides a successful case of public R&D performance evaluation in China, the International Evaluation on the Funding and Management Performance of the National Natural Science Foundation of China . The case is the most influential R&D evaluation up to now, and represents good practice from China. The article focuses on the approaches or solutions that have been used in the case to ensure the independence, credibility and utility of evaluation. The facts and viewpoints presented in this case analysis are based on the author’ direct involvement in the real evaluation practice of the case.