Is British Scientific Research So Competitive? Have​ Scientists Around the World Relied on “Old Knowledge” ⁣for More Than Half a Century?

From excessive competition and heavy workload to inappropriate evaluation criteria and ‌publication practices, as well as​ lack of transparency and irreproducible results, these seemingly “complaint points” in the ​domestic scientific research⁤ circle actually come from the outspoken British counterparts.

Professor Tom Stamford from the University of Sheffield was invited by this⁣ year’s Pujiang Innovation Forum to give a keynote speech on the UK’s scientific and technological innovation culture, directly⁢ addressing the various “very competitive”​ challenges currently facing the UK’s scientific research field. In fact, experts from ‌various countries attending the forum also expressed some sympathy with the British professor’s views.

In today’s world, innovative technologies ‌emerge in an​ endless stream, change⁤ with each passing day, and even advance at a rapid pace, but behind them lies a crisis ‍of innovative culture, which may be preventing mankind from recreating the past era of scientific ⁤explosion ‍and disruptive breakthroughs.

The UK has a rich industrial and scientific heritage, and a mature and diverse scientific research culture and reputation in the world’s leading scientific and​ technological innovation. However, the era of the Nature Index seems to be drifting away from today’s human beings. Guo Zhe,⁤ director of the China⁢ Science and Technology Museum, introduced an extension of the “Nature Index”: the average CD5 index, ‍which shows the influence of a paper five years after its publication. On the curve chart, this⁣ index​ has shown a clear downward trend over‌ the past half century,⁢ even tending to 0.

The academic community believes that contemporary people are still digesting the fruits of the previous scientific and technological revolution by “living off their ⁣past achievements.” However, some people also believe that from⁣ another perspective, this long “silent spring” also means that people have entered⁢ an era⁣ of intensive innovation. Just as integrated circuits, ​AI, biomedicine, etc., are all accelerating innovation based on​ earlier revolutionary research.

So,‌ how do we expect the next “scientific big⁤ bang” to be a ⁣new singularity? Ren⁢ Zhengfei, the founder of⁤ Huawei, ‌once told the presidents ​of C9‌ universities that top comprehensive universities should go “to the sky” and not be affected by engineering problems in the past two or three years. They should focus ‍on the needs of national and industrial development in the next two or three decades. Universities should work hard to make the country‌ not ​difficult tomorrow.

Tian Jietang, director of the Industrial Economics Department of the Development ‌Research⁤ Center of the State ‌Council, also said that future industries need an innovative culture of “long-termism”, people who have the desire to “look up at the stars”, ⁢and a social environment that tolerates and discovers “weirdness”.

If we lack such “patience” and just keep ⁢our⁤ heads down and rush forward without looking up, the rapid technological progress‍ may lose the control of the ⁢innovation culture and even go‌ beyond the bottom ⁣line of values.​ “Having the power of God, but being irresponsible, greedy, and not even knowing what you want. There is probably⁣ nothing more dangerous ⁤than this.”

Li Zhengfeng, a professor at the ⁣School of Social ⁣Sciences of ⁣Tsinghua University, reiterated Harari’s warning in “Sapiens: A Brief​ History of Humankind”. He believes that the conflict and competition between human positions, ⁣national ⁤positions, and personal positions have exacerbated the complexity of this issue.

Let us move towards ⁤a new innovation culture, let the accelerated development of science, technology, and innovation serve the fundamental interests of a community ⁤with a shared future for mankind, and jointly shape a “creation culture”⁢ facing an uncertain future.