Measures on the Management of Open Funding of the State Key Laboratory of Biochemical Engineering

Measures on the Management of Open Funding of the State Key Laboratory of Biochemical Engineering

(Supplemented and revised in June 2012)      

According to the Measures for the Construction and Operation of State Key Laboratories (G. K. F. J. [2008] No. 539) and the Measures on the Management of Special Funds of State Key Laboratories (C. J. [2008] No. 531) issued by the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Finance, the Application Guidelines and Management Measures on the Open Funding Projects of the State Key Laboratory of Biochemical Engineering has been formulated through the revision of the original management measures.

Article I: General Principles

The open funding projects of the State Key Laboratory of Biochemical Engineering are open to the public at home and abroad, encouraging the development of new ideas, new methods and interdisciplinary disciplines, and advocating an academic atmosphere of innovation, truth-seeking, openness and exchange.

Article II: Qualifications of Applicant and Partner

1. Researchers with the title of research assistant, lecturer, engineer or equivalent research ability, or researchers who have obtained a doctoral degree at home and abroad can apply for the open funding of the State Key Laboratory of Biochemical Engineering. Undergraduates, postgraduates and postdoctoral fellows cannot be applicants;

2. Under normal circumstances, the project application shall be jointly submitted by at least one of the full-time academic staff of the State Key Laboratory of Biochemical Engineering as the partner. However, such academic staff cannot be the project leader;

3. Each applicant as the project leader can only apply for one open project at the same time. The open project applied for shall not duplicate the contents of other projects of the State Key Laboratory of Biochemical Engineering under research or under application by the applicant or the partner. Those who have undertaken or participated in the open project in the past but failed to finish the project or pass the acceptance inspection shall not apply for or participate in the new open project;

4. Each full-time staff member of the State Key Laboratory of Biochemical Engineering can only cooperate with one applicant to submit an application within the same year, and the total number of open projects that the same full-time staff can participate in cooperation shall not exceed 2. Full-time staff who have participated in the previous open project but have not completed the project or failed the acceptance inspection shall not participate in the cooperation application of a new open project.

Article III: Research Direction

Based on the major needs and development trend of biochemical engineering disciplines, the State Key Laboratory of Biochemical Engineering, combined with its specific conditions, determines the following research direction supported by the open funding according to the requirement of concise science and technology objectives of the Knowledge Innovation Project of Chinese Academy of Sciences:

1. Study on multi-scale and metabolic regulation and cell interaction of biological culture process;

2. Basic research on the key process of ecological high value of biomass resources;

3. Study on stability of bioactive materials during separation;

4. Design, preparation and application of new biological agents;

5. Theoretical and applied research on membrane and chromatographic techniques in biological separation;

6. Design, preparation, application and mechanism of novel biological microspheres and microcapsules;

7. Nanobiocatalysis;

8. Biological separation and modification.

The State Key Laboratory of Biochemical Engineering attaches great importance to basic and applied basic research, emphasizes the novelty, originality and pioneering of the academic ideas of the research subjects, and pays attention to the close integration of basic research and application development. The research direction proposed by the open project must be consistent with the important development direction of the State Key Laboratory of Biochemical Engineering, and the research content and means can complement each other.

Article IV: Application Process of Open Funding

1. The State Key Laboratory of Biochemical Engineering will accept the applications for open funding from September 1 to October 30. Relevant researchers shall find relevant information online in time and download the latest version of the Application for the Open Funding Project of the State Key Laboratory of Biochemical Engineering (hereinafter referred to as the “Application”);

2. During the period from September 1 to September 15, applicants shall first fill in the “cover and brief form” of the Application and send it to Prof. Wei Wei by email (weiwei@ipe.ac.cn). The laboratory will conduct a preliminary examination of the abstract of the Application and notify the applicant of the preliminary examination results before September 30. For the project application that passes the preliminary examination, the Application shall be filled in and submitted before October 30;

3. The leaders of the applicant’s unit or the person in charge of the department shall sign and affix the official seal of the unit on the Application, and applicants of foreign institutions shall have the original or faxed copies of the Application signed by the applicant;

4. Applicants shall submit the completed Application in triplicate to the State Key Laboratory of Biochemical Engineering before October 30, and submit the electronic version by email.

Article V: Approval Procedures of Open Funding

1. The State Key Laboratory of Biochemical Engineering is responsible for the application acceptance of the open funding projects. An application shall not be accepted under any of the following circumstances:

2. The Application is not filled in as required and the application materials are not complete;

3. It is not eligible for funding;

4. There is suspected academic misconduct;

5. After the preliminary examination of the application project, the Academic Committee of the State Key Laboratory of Biochemical Engineering will invite peer experts for communication or conference review. The State Key Laboratory of Biochemical Engineering will select the best project for funding according to the evaluation opinions, and the director of the laboratory will give final approval;

6. Under the same conditions, excellent young scientists are preferred;

7. In order to encourage open flow and attract outstanding domestic and foreign scientific and technological workers to work in the sate key laboratory, priority shall be given to research projects under cooperation between China and foreign countries in the same conditions;

8. After the evaluation by experts organized by the key laboratory, the list and amount of funding will be officially notified to the relevant personnel.

Article VI: Use and Management of Fund

1. The total fund for each open project is RMB 100,000 to 600,000 yuan. The State Key Laboratory of Biochemical Engineering will set up a separate account for unified management, and use the special fund for the purpose of supporting expenses related to the open project research.

2. Scope of funding:

3. Research costs directly related to the funded project, such as materials expenses, travel expenses for academic exchange, materials costs, small equipment purchase costs, etc.;

4. Expenses for academic activities, research, materials, printing and copying of papers and layout of academic papers directly related to the funded projects;

5. The costs of accommodation for visiting staff (including jointly cultivated postgraduates) when they come to work in the laboratory, as well as subsidies in line with relevant regulations of the state, etc.;

6. Maintenance and operation fee, test fee, processing fee, water, electricity and gas consumption fee of large equipment;

7. The total expenses for the project shall not exceed the total amount of funds given when the project is approved. The project fund shall be used exclusively for specific purposes and shall not be appropriated for other purposes.

Article VII: Project and Achievement Management

1. The term of the open research is generally 2 to 3 years (generally from January 1 of the next year after the approval to December 30 of the second or third year);

2. During the implementation of the project, the project leader must submit the Open Project Progress Report (both paper version and electronic version) to the laboratory at the end of the first year (before December 31 of the first year), together with a final PDF of the published full text of the papers and publications. The laboratory office will review the report and give evaluation opinions. The evaluation results are divided into two levels: qualified and unqualified. The laboratory director has the right to suspend or cancel the fund if the evaluation result is unqualified or the progress report is not submitted within the time limit without justifiable reasons.

3. Within one month after the completion of the project, the project leader shall fill in and submit the Open Project Conclusion Report (paper version and electronic version). The report shall include a summary of the work and a catalogue of the results, as well as a final PDF of the published full text of the papers, publications and experimental data. After the conclusion report is examined and signed by the responsible partner, it shall be submitted to the laboratory office for acceptance. The office will give evaluation opinions after the review of the report. The evaluation results are divided into four levels: excellent, good, moderate and poor. The office will inform the work unit of the project leader. Those who fail to submit the conclusion report as required within the time limit will be disqualified from applying for the project fund of the State Key Laboratory of Biochemical Engineering in the future, and will be informed of their work units if necessary. For outstanding projects, priority will be given to continuous rolling support or key funding.

4. The achievements of the open project are mainly reflected in the cooperation in publishing high-quality papers, which shall be labeled with the State Key Laboratory of Biochemical Engineering. Full name for bylining: State Key Laboratory of Biochemical Engineering, Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 10090, China; the words “Supported (or Partially Supported) by Open Funding Project of the State Key Laboratory of Biochemical Engineering (No. XXX)” are indicated on the front page or in the acknowledgement. If there is no bylining or acknowledgement of the key laboratory, it will not be included in the project results.

5. Papers, achievements and patents obtained by the project funded by the open fund shall be shared by the State Key Laboratory of Biochemical Engineering and the unit where the researcher works. If the research results need to be appraised or evaluated, the State Key Laboratory of Biochemical Engineering shall be responsible for the organization, and both parties shall jointly declare the results or apply for awards. The profits from the transfer of the results shall be shared by both parties and the proportion shall be negotiated separately. When applying for a patented invention, it shall be handled in accordance with the Patent Law and relevant regulations.