(1) Try to write a good application. Starting from 2003, the application of national social science fund projects in various disciplines will generally adopt a new evaluation method, that is, the initial evaluation will be conducted first, and the application topics and their design arguments will be evaluated according to a unified evaluation system; After screening, the shortlisted projects will be reviewed at the meeting, that is, the arguments of the shortlisted projects will be further analyzed and compared, and the applicant's academic background, conditions and ability to complete the project research will be understood through application, and whether the project can be established will be considered comprehensively. Judging from the pilot projects of philosophy, China literature, economic theory and applied economics in 2002, the number of short-listed projects after the initial evaluation of exchange only accounts for about 1/3 of the number of applications; However, the number of projects adopted by the conference only accounts for about 1/3 of the finalists. The only basis for deciding to accept or reject the two-stage assessment is the level of application. Therefore, making great efforts to improve the level of application, including the level of topic selection and design demonstration, has become the key to winning the shortlist and project establishment. (2) Choosing a good topic I want to use an example of this year's economic theory discipline to illustrate this problem. This year, 78 projects were approved for the discipline of economic theory (including 8 key projects, 58 general projects and 2 youth projects/kloc-0). Judging from the relationship between the project title and the project guide, according to my personal rough analysis, it includes the following three situations. The first case: the project title is exactly the same as the project guide. There are 12 projects in this category, accounting for 15.4% of the total number of projects. In the second case, the project topic is not divorced from the project guide, and only one of them is concerned. For example, the topic guide is "Research on Industrialization, Informatization and Leap-forward Development" and the topic name is "New Industrialization and Leap-forward Upgrading of Industrial Structure in the Information Age-Research on Industrialization, Informatization and Leap-forward Development". For another example, the topic guide is "Research on Farmers' Income" and the topic name is "Research on Farmers' Income-Research on the Supply of Rural Public Goods to Improve Farmers' Income". For example, the project guidance is the latest development research of western economics, and the project topic is the latest development research of western economics (basic theory of institutional and evolutionary economics). There are 62 projects in this category, accounting for 79.5% of the total number of projects. It can be seen that there is a lot of space and freedom in selecting topics without departing from the topic guide. At the same time, judging from the topic itself, this topic has three characteristics and advantages: first, it is pioneering and innovative, that is, the topic raises problems that have not been studied or rarely studied by predecessors; Second, it is of great significance, that is, the topic selection has important research value in theory or practice; Third, the focus is prominent, which is conducive to deepening. The third case: there is no project topic in the project guide. There are 4 such projects, accounting for 5. 1% of the total number of projects. Three of these four items are about China's economic history, and 1 is about social security for disabled people in ethnic areas. Because of their excellent topic selection and design demonstration, their project establishment can be regarded as a special case and a supplement to the project guide. The first and second situations mentioned above, especially the second situation, may have different degrees of universality in other disciplines besides economic theory, which can be used as a reference for selecting topics. (3) The most important thing is to improve the level of design demonstration 1. Demonstration of the present research situation. In my opinion, the demonstration of the research status quo in the related fields of topic selection should meet the requirements of three aspects. First, be familiar with the research work done and being done in this field. Including: what questions to ask, how to study these questions, as well as the main contents and viewpoints of the research, and so on. Second, make a correct analysis and judgment on the research work in this field. Including: whether the research method of the question is scientific and perfect; Whether the formed theories, viewpoints or countermeasures are correct and in-depth; Which problems have been solved, which problems have not been solved or not completely solved, whether there are new problems that have not been put forward for study, and so on. Third, on the basis of the above, accurately grasp the new starting point and breakthrough point of research work. Regardless of social science research or natural science research, grasping the research trends is an indispensable initial and basic work; It is also an important prerequisite for ensuring innovation in research work and avoiding low-level repeated research. Therefore, we must attach great importance to this part of the application and strive to write well. In many applications I have read, the demonstration of the research status quo is often a weak link. There are two common shortcomings: first, I don't know much about the relevant research or I don't know much about it. For example, it is obviously an important research work that has been done, but it is not reflected in the application; In other words, a problem that someone else has studied is arbitrarily said to be a problem that has not been studied, which is intended to show that he is the initiator. Second, although we know the relevant research status, we often just summarize and list the representative achievements or viewpoints in a compilation way, lacking analysis and judgment. In this way, it is naturally difficult to find a new starting point and breakthrough point accurately, and it is also difficult to convince people that the research work he wants to do is innovative and high-level. 2. Argumentation on the design of the topic, including the significance of the topic, research ideas, methods, main contents, key points, expected breakthroughs and difficulties. I realize that this part of the exposition must be guided by Theory of Three Represents, persist in emancipating the mind, seek truth from facts, keep pace with the times and blaze new trails. Be able to discover the tendentiousness and incipient problems in the development of social change in time with broad vision and keen vision, and explore and grasp the internal laws with forward-looking thinking and strategic thinking; Put forward countermeasures and suggestions to solve problems with the spirit of reform and innovative ideas, so that the research work can be closely linked with the reality of reform, opening up and modernization, and the theory will continue to innovate and advance. Therefore, in the design demonstration, we must establish innovative consciousness and excellent concept. If you can't stand at the forefront of theory and academia in basic research, put forward more important new ideas, or put forward important ideas and measures to solve problems in applied research, it is impossible to be approved. 3. With regard to the academic background in the application, this part includes not only the resumes of the applicants and their collaborators, but also their recently completed and ongoing related research work, their recent research results and their research work. I understand that the purpose of this part of the evaluation is to judge whether the applicant has the ability, level and conditions to complete the research on the selected topic with high quality. According to the problems found in my application for many years, I think it is very important to establish a good style of study of seeking truth from facts. First, the status of personnel, research work and research results. Must be true, unambiguous and not fraudulent; Second, we must evaluate our own research work and achievements, as well as our research ability and level, and we must not exaggerate or brag. Cai Xiaozhen, a famous urban economist in China, is a professor of economics at Nankai University and a doctoral supervisor. )