1, the basis of the project.

The first three parts of project basis and research content are the three most critical parts in fund writing. All three parts have been written, and the rest are icing on the cake. The basis of project establishment should include research significance, research status and analysis at home and abroad. As a basic research, the scientific significance should be discussed in combination with the development trend of scientific research; As an applied research, it is necessary to discuss its application prospect in combination with the key scientific and technological problems that need to be solved urgently in the national economy and social development. This part should pay attention to the following main issues:

(l) It is necessary to introduce foreign development and domestic research.

I don't know when it started. China people like to quote the works of foreigners when writing papers, but they don't pay attention to the works of their domestic counterparts. Fund applications have similar problems. In this way, the assessor will think that the applicant does not know the domestic research situation and will not agree to the application for funded projects on the grounds of "not knowing the domestic situation".

(2) The domestic situation should include the applicant's own research work.

Many candidates often only introduce other people's work, not their own. Some applicants may think that it will be introduced in the research foundation, but not in the project foundation. It seems that the project basis is not comprehensive and sufficient. Applicants must briefly introduce their existing work basis here, so that the judges can get to know the applicants smoothly.

(3) The reasons why the applicant is engaged in this research must be clarified.

Some applications only talk about the significance and domestic and international trends of this project, without introducing why the applicant is engaged in this research. It seems that the application is addressed to others, not to myself. You should clearly introduce what you found in your previous work, what problems exist in other people's work, or what special ideas you have on scientific issues, and so on. Otherwise, it is difficult for the assessor to judge the applicant's own specific ideas, and such an application is definitely not in place.

(4) Adhere to the basic national policy of "doing something, not doing something", and filling in the blanks is not the basis for project establishment.

Many people take filling in the blanks as the reason for establishing the project, which is not in line with the purpose of implementing the science fund system and establishing the fund Committee. The purpose of the National Natural Science Foundation of China is to make China's basic research occupy a place in the world, not to track or fill the gaps. Although the state has continuously increased its investment in natural science funds, the research funds are still insufficient. At present, in the field of basic research, only those application projects with research foundation, characteristics or innovation can be supported. It has been pointed out that basic research can only strive for the first place, and the second and third places are equal to nothing, so it should not fill any gaps. This is the same as playing Go. Win or lose, we must try to occupy a piece of land on the chessboard. Otherwise, the next child will follow you and all the pieces will be eaten. If the national economy needs it, it can fill some gaps, but it is different to engage in basic research. There is no need to fill in the blanks. It may be possible to train some young people, but it is impossible to do so with the current economic strength of the country.

(5) The main references, including key research work at home and abroad, should be displayed, and the timeliness should be paid attention to. You don't need to list a lot of documents like graduate students' opening reports. It's too little and inappropriate, which makes reviewers mistakenly think that you don't know enough.

In short, the purpose of the project should be clear, the reasons for the application should be sufficient, the basis of the project should not be too popular, and the key issues should be made clear, so as to arouse the interest of the judges and make them willing to continue to read your application. Your application is competitive only when people can barely read it.

2. Research contents, research objectives and key problems to be solved.

This is the key part of the text, and we should pay attention to the following questions:

(l) The research goal should be to solve scientific and academic problems.

As a fund project, it is not simply to do a specific thing and solve a non-academic goal, but to study and solve scientific and academic problems in specific events. Taking materials as an example, the goal of many applications is only to study an optimal process or what specific properties a material can achieve. This kind of project belongs to developmental research, does not raise any scientific and academic issues, and does not meet the requirements of basic research.

In addition, exploring laws should belong to basic research, but in the current situation of relatively tight funds, it is uncompetitive and difficult to get support to explore laws in general without demonstrating the significance of a certain law.

(2) The research content should be focused.

At present, the intensity of general fund projects is not very high, and a general fund project only needs to solve one or two scientific problems. I hope that the final research results are powerful, not general, and comprehensive. In the past, some judges pointed out that some applications do everything, as if they listed all the teaching materials, and most of these applications appeared in the hands of college teachers. In order to describe the research content clearly, you can describe the details clearly and list the key details under each research content. In order to avoid being "shot" because "there are too many contents and the key points are not prominent".

In addition, many applications can't distinguish the relationship between research content and research methods. If the research method is regarded as the research content, the reviewers will think that the applicant's thinking is not clear, and such an application project is not ideal.

(3) The key problems to be solved should be clear.

Many project applications do not fill in this item, so it is difficult for the reviewers to know whether the applicant understands the research difficulties involved in the project, and it is also difficult to judge the possibility of the applicant completing the project. If the difficulties in the application are not clearly written or not correct at all, the reviewers will also think that the applicant lacks the ability to complete the project. Therefore, this column must be written accurately. In view of the difficulties raised, reasonable design of research methods and technical routes will ensure the completion of application projects.

1, proposed research scheme and feasibility analysis.

This part includes the description of related methods, technical routes, experimental means and key technologies. In the past, the application was only half a page, and many applications did not clearly express specific research plans and ideas.

(1) The research methods and technical routes should be specific and clear.

Most applications are vague in this part, and it is not clear what problems to solve in each step. It is very necessary to be able to write clearly item by item. For example, the previous application is one of the clearest applications we have ever seen and written: what method to use and what kind of modification to others' methods provide experimental steps that colleagues can operate as usual. The communication evaluation result is 3 excellent and 2 excellent, and the subject evaluation team unanimously supports the funding.

However, some research projects like to use all the "weapons" of modern analysis and "use" anything new, such as HRTEM, STM, AFM, AES and so on. But their use and what useful results can be obtained are still unclear. The only advantage is that more experimental expenses can be calculated in the budget. Obviously, the use of each analytical instrument is unclear, or "kill the chicken with a knife", and improper use of advanced instruments will also be rejected.

(2) "Plagiarism is a minority" and self-protection should be strengthened.

As a basic research, it should not be kept secret in principle, but with the development of science and technology, it is necessary to properly protect some contents with obvious application prospects. As a reviewer of fund projects, I always hope that the applicant can write the application in detail and clearly, which is conducive to judgment. However, many applicants, especially those who are "junior", think that the research methods and technical routes are too detailed and will be copied by others. At present, due to all kinds of misleading, all kinds of scientific and technological corruption have really affected some people who can't resist the temptation to plagiarize, but such people are a minority after all. We don't think we need to worry in most cases. The above example is an example. Of course, you must have a good accumulation of preliminary work, even if others copy your ideas, it will not be of great use. But there are also "little three" who worry that there may be a little more. Because they accumulate less, once good ideas are stolen by others, it is difficult to compete with others. In fact, when we synthesize peer review opinions, we also try to take some protective measures. It's not simply about whether the reviewers agree or disagree. Statistical comprehensive evaluation has several advantages and disadvantages, and it depends on whether there are substantive opinions in the review opinion text. Even if one person does not agree to the funding, the other four judges think that your academic ideas are novel and distinctive, and your application can still be sent to the discipline evaluation team, which may be approved. Since 1992, the review meeting of metal materials discipline of the Ministry of Engineering and Materials Science of our Committee has adopted the system of no moderator, in order to prevent one or two experts from easily vetoing projects with certain innovative ideas.

In addition, when there are "know-how", we should try our best to strengthen self-protection. It can not only explain the problem clearly, but also reveal your "understanding". How to do it better, only to show their magical powers.

(3) Feasibility analysis should be put forward from an academic point of view.

Many applications only briefly introduce the manpower and material resources of the feasibility analysis part, such as how many professors and associate professors there are in the research group, how many doctors and postdocs there are, all kinds of advanced working conditions, state key laboratories in the unit and so on. But you should put forward feasibility analysis from an academic point of view, highlight the applicant's good ideas in academic thinking, and make clear whether your design scheme, research methods and technical route can achieve the expected research goals. The comprehensive advantages of research team, research conditions and academic ideas are the key to the success of the fund project, and all three are indispensable.

2. Features and innovations of this project

In the past, this column only mentioned innovation, and it was impossible to require innovation in every project. Especially the continuation project, the previous project has innovation, and it is too difficult for the new project to require innovation. It is more objective to mention characteristics and innovation now. It is good that an application project can be distinctive and innovative. When writing, we should pay attention to the following questions:

(1) Avoid expanding "innovation"

In recent years, the concept of innovation has been hyped up. As for the meaning of the word innovation, the answer lies in the Chinese Dictionary. Innovation is also called "innovation", the first meaning is to create or create new ones; The second meaning is the first. But there are many explanations in English, such as: Bringforth New Ideas, Innovation, Creativity and so on. We believe that there are some differences between innovation, creation, revolution, innovation and renewal. Nowadays, many people understand innovation as innovation, in fact, it is to expand innovation. 1958 During the Great Leap Forward, technological innovation was mentioned in English, and now people call it technological innovation because the word innovation is too fashionable. Due to the emergence of the concept of knowledge-based economics (an official of the American Foundation said that "knowledge economy is a matter of industry and market"), the expression of knowledge innovation appeared again. Some people will use the word knowledge innovation when explaining knowledge innovation. In fact, the innovation here is closer to the concept of Renew. Oxford's Chinese interpretation is reform and innovation, and the third is innovation. The English explanation of innovation in Oxford Dictionary is to make changes and introduce new things. ; Webster's new dictionary is interpreted as bringing changes and new things. We think it is more appropriate to really understand innovation by introducing the old and bringing forth the new in English, that is, we must have new ideas, otherwise it can only be innovation or renewal. It may be more difficult to apply for funds for innovation. If we can "create something and make progress" as Chairman Mao said, it would be quite good.

(2) Show the research characteristics and novel academic ideas of the applicant.

This refers to the characteristics and novel academic ideas of the research project to be carried out by the applicant, rather than to the characteristics of a new field in general. The characteristics of the new research field may or may not belong to the applicant, but are inherent in the development of the discipline. Therefore, applicants must be clear about their unique research characteristics. Like the feasibility analysis, the characteristics of the research conditions can not fully show the applicant's research characteristics and academic novelty. Similarly, with good research conditions, some people can do beautiful research work, but some people just regard it as a decoration. It is very difficult to innovate academic ideas. At present, the country's financial resources are limited, and it is still difficult to create an environment completely suitable for innovation (Annex 9). In addition, the market economy affects basic research more or less. As long as your academic ideas are a little novel, or you can learn from good ideas in other fields to your research topic, you can increase the competitiveness of the application project.

(3) Don't talk about interdisciplinary in general.

Interdisciplinary development is inevitable (see Annex 6). The National Natural Science Foundation of China encourages interdisciplinary development, which does not mean that your application project is interdisciplinary. Even if it is unique and innovative, you should be funded. We have discussed the concept of interdisciplinary, and everyone agrees that "interdisciplinary must promote the development of related disciplines". If your application belongs to an interdisciplinary project, you must be clear about where the intersection is. Generally speaking, this project is interdisciplinary, not innovative and unique, and will not be recognized by the judging experts.

(4) Filling gaps at home and abroad is not a feature and innovation.

Although the national economy has made great progress in the past 20 years of reform and opening up, compared with developed countries, its economic strength is still insufficient. Although it can't be said that it is still a blank sheet of paper, there are still many places that have not been drawn. You can't draw a beautiful picture by filling in the blanks. At present, basic research can make a difference. First of all, we should pay attention to two aspects: basic research in areas urgently needed by the national economy and basic research in research areas that have a certain research foundation at home and may occupy a place in the world. Fill in the blanks belongs to news propaganda language. It has been mentioned in the list of project basis that filling in the blanks cannot be used as the basis for applying for fund projects. Similarly, filling gaps can not be regarded as characteristics and innovation.

(5) the emergence of innovative ideas

The following only introduces the environment and conditions of creative R&D in the book Random Talk on R&D-Dedicated to Young Science and Technology Workers written by Mr. Ito Sugita, counselor of Nippon Steel (equivalent to consultant) in Japan (Table 3), which may be instructive to how to generate innovative ideas when writing applications. Among them, C is the most innovative. Mr. Sugita asked colleagues at home and abroad in Japan, and they all had similar feelings. When we introduced this point, many experts also expressed similar feelings. When you put all your energy into your research work, sometimes you can't think of a solution at ordinary times and you will find the answer in your sleep, but you must record it as soon as you wake up. Dreams have one characteristic. When you wake up completely, the details of the dream are hard to remember.

Table 3, Environment for Innovative Ideas (Nishida Tanaka)

Discuss with several people (especially with foreign tourists)

When writing a research report

C "When I just woke up" in the morning (a long-term exploration topic)

D when looking at the scene (in kind)

When reading interesting documents and advertisements.

Note: The frequencies are A, B and C, of which C has the highest quality.

5. Annual research plan and expected research results

The annual plan shall include an explanation of the important academic exchange activities and international cooperation and exchange to be organized. The requirements for the expected research results are more reasonable than those in the past, and the results need to be evaluated. As the research results of general projects, there is often not enough time for peer evaluation or acceptance by peer experts. Therefore, we should expect a level of research results when applying, rather than blindly pursuing the number of research results.

(1) The research plan should be as specific as possible.

It is convenient for the evaluation experts to know whether the research progress arranged by the applicant is reasonable and write in detail as much as possible. In the past, someone's annual research plan only used three sentences: the first year to continue literature research, the second year to conduct experimental research, and the third year to summarize and write research reports. This is not made up, there is such a thing. It is understandable to keep studying in the process of research, but it is difficult to understand that the application has been submitted and it will take one year to do literature research. It may be a bit too long, so it is impossible for the Fund Committee to let you spend only 40% of the project funds (the proportion of the first year's funds) on literature research.

(2) The expected progress can give a rough idea.

Since basic research is different from tackling key projects, your research progress can be modified according to the research progress. Usually, projects that can really produce great results should constantly break the original plan, indicating that you have made new discoveries in your research. Projects that can only be completed according to the original plan are called insurance projects, which generally do not produce great results. The expected progress can give a general idea, and it is also convenient for the evaluation experts to analyze your application more comprehensively.

(3) Expected research results

There are 10 types of results contained in general project summary reports, but only a few can really measure the completion of fund projects. Theoretical achievements can include academic papers, scientific and technological awards (especially natural science awards), personnel training and so on. The application results should be measured by economic and social benefits, but most of them are indirect results because of the limited investment of the fund. We won't write many economic benefits on a blank sheet of paper. Adding an official seal will be regarded as the application result. In writing, we should pay attention to:

(3- 1) The expected research results should be consistent with the research objectives.

There are only two lines of expected research results for many applications. For example, after the completion of this research, many papers were published in core journals at home and abroad, and many patents were applied. But it is not clear what kind of papers have been published, what kind of patents have been applied for, and sometimes the relationship with the research objectives is not clear.

(3-2) The expected research results should be strong, quantitative and more important in quality.

Due to the early publicity of NSFC, it is often said that the Science Foundation can produce several thousand yuan of papers, which leads many grantees to simply emphasize the number of papers. Now, the level and influence of the thesis are gradually emphasized, so that the theoretical results can truly reflect the role supported by the National Science Foundation. For example, we use the integral area to represent the size of the result. We hope that under the same integration area, the peak can be higher and the width of the peak can be narrower. In other words, the research results should be strong or deep, not comprehensive. The research results are just a lot of small peaks and a lot of articles, which are not in-depth anyway and have not written a weighty academic paper. An expert once said with great satisfaction: "Six papers were originally planned to be completed, but now 12 papers have been completed, which has doubled." Our answer is "If you can publish a high-level paper, you can also admit that you have completed the task". At present, the scientific and technological circles generally pursue the number of papers and ignore the quality of papers. In the second part, we will introduce some opinions on scientific papers and their evaluation.

(3-3) Correct understanding of patent status

Someone asked whether a patent was an achievement. Of course, your basic research results have been popularized and applied, and the Fund Committee still recognizes several patents you applied for, but you can't take patents as the main research results of the Fund. In our view, patent is only a method of intellectual property protection, and it is difficult to judge the research level of fund projects, which can be used as auxiliary results at the end of the topic, so it is not necessary to emphasize too much when applying.

(3-4) Graduate students to be trained

Science Foundation has the task of cultivating talents, but the number of graduate students is often related to the research funds of the project leaders, and the level of graduate students is the key to cultivating talents. How to express it remains to be studied. It doesn't seem to make much sense just to write down the number of graduate students to be trained.

The second part of the text studies the foundation and working conditions.

1, working basis

The work basis refers to the accumulation of research work related to this project and the results of research work.

Work accumulation and research results should belong to the applicant and collaborators, not the work and results of your unit, research group or tutor. Previously, it was found that some applicants described the work done by their tutors as their own work; Some people have just arrived in a new unit and accumulated their past work achievements as their own work. These practices are very inappropriate. For graduate students who have just graduated, as fund committee and evaluation experts, they will not be forced to have a lot of accumulation in new research fields, but they must introduce their past work in detail so that evaluation experts can judge their research ability.

2. Conditions of use

The work situation includes the existing experimental conditions, the shortcomings of experimental conditions and the ways to solve them, as well as the planning and implementation of state key laboratories and departmental open laboratories.

So far, the general projects of the National Natural Science Foundation mainly support research activities, but in principle, they do not provide the cost of purchasing equipment. At present, the funding intensity of general projects of the National Natural Science Foundation of China simply cannot bear the cost of those large-scale equipment. If someone wants to buy a large number of instruments and equipment with the fund's funds, the application for the project will be rejected because the research conditions are not available, but it is still possible to add some small equipment or modify the instruments.

3. Resume of the applicant

The applicant's resume includes the academic qualifications and research resumes of the applicant and the main members of the project team, the main works recently published related to this project, the academic awards won and the tasks undertaken in this project.

The applicant's research background and main members of the project team should be introduced, but many applications only introduce the applicant, which does not meet the application requirements. The background information of the applicant and the main members should be specific, and the relevant works should indicate the author's position, the title of the paper, the published publications and the publication time, and the ranking of the winners should be indicated when winning the academic award. Now some disciplines have special requirements for the writing of this column. Applicants must read the project guide and application guide carefully. For example, in the Guide to the Discipline of Metal Materials, it is proposed that "the applicant and the main members of the project team should provide the specific research results of the projects undertaken by the National Natural Science Foundation in the past, and indicate the papers published in the top 500 academic journals included in SCI and EI in recent years, the general situation that the papers were cited by domestic and foreign peer experts, and the situation that the applicant made an invitation report at international academic conferences. The basic information provided must be objective and true, otherwise it will directly affect the approval of the application project. " . We counted the applications for three years and found that half of them were not written according to the requirements of the project guide. There may be two reasons, either you didn't read the project guide or you didn't get the corresponding results.

4. Undertake scientific research projects

Undertaking scientific research projects refers to the scientific research projects being undertaken by the applicant and the main members of the project team, including the projects funded by the Natural Science Foundation, indicating the project name and number, source of funds, starting and ending dates, responsible contents, etc.

In order to make the judges understand the connection and difference between the project you applied for and the project you undertook, you should briefly describe the research tasks and key points of the project you undertook in this column.

The progress or completion of projects funded by the National Natural Science Foundation should be written in detail. Otherwise, the evaluation experts cannot evaluate the implementation of the projects previously completed and under study by the applicants. Don't simply say "complete" or "smooth". It is best to indicate what awards have been won, how many papers have been published, how many graduate students have been trained, and the current situation of graduate students, so that reviewers can see at a glance.

There used to be a column about the completion of the last project. It is hoped that the first pages of the three major papers can still be provided in the new application, and the funded projects must be reflected. Otherwise, attach a page that can reflect the funded project, such as thanks or acknowledgements in English publications.

The third part of the budget body

According to the general project funding in 2002, the average funding intensity has reached 200,000 yuan; According to the policy of subsidizing some high-value projects, the maximum subsidy amount is even higher. Under normal circumstances, during the "Seventh Five-Year Plan" and "Eighth Five-Year Plan" period, there will be no rejection because the application funds are too high to support. Of course, the application funds are too high, which is another matter.

Since the fund is mainly used to finance the research activities of the project, rather than to develop and purchase instruments and equipment, in principle, a small amount of funds can still be used to purchase small instruments, renovate equipment and refit laboratories. Purchase more than 50,000 yuan of fixed assets and equipment. , must be itemized.