Hundreds of thousands of high-value patents are "sleeping"
Can the evaluation of professors in engineering colleges highlight the transformation of achievements?
The headline of the first page of this newspaper on April 11 published "Innovation at the source to solve the "stuck neck" technical problem-the enlightenment of an engineering teacher over the four mountains" of the industrialization of achievements", reporting the practice of independent innovation by Zhang Yueming, a teacher at Beijing University of Technology explore.
Since Zhang Yueming has been engaged in the transformation of scientific and technological achievements on the front line of production, when he was 50 years old, he was not rated as a professor because there were not many papers published by others. This matter has aroused heated discussion in intellectual circles, especially in engineering colleges.
At present, the technological achievements of many engineering colleges and universities have industrialization value, and the market lacks high-tech projects. Many companies are also looking for opportunities for technological iteration, transformation and upgrading; but on the other hand, the conversion rate of engineering colleges’ achievements is poor. Low.
According to data from the State Intellectual Property Office, as of the end of 2019, “double first-class” universities alone had more than 250,000 invention patents (high-value patents), of which Zhejiang University and Tsinghua University had more than 20,000 invention patents.
But even for these high-value invention patents, the proportion of technological achievements transformation is relatively low.
Taking Tsinghua University as an example, the number of patent transfers in 2020 is 1,795, ranking first among universities in the country, but it is less than 9%.
For this reason, Nie Zuoren, the president of Beijing University of Technology, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, Ouyang Zhongcan, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and other experts called for: "Engineering colleges and scientific research institutes need to emancipate their minds in the new era, and change the "paper-oriented" hat-oriented" project A one-sided talent evaluation system such as'oriented', we must dare to explore a system for the transformation of scientific and technological achievements, encourage more capable teachers with the will and passion to open up territory in any innovative field required by the country, and encourage scientific researchers to use the results of the laboratory Apply to key areas of national economic development to solve the problem of industrial upgrading in our country."
High-value patents of engineering colleges are "sleeping", and industrialization requires deep participation of college teachers
"The scientific research results of many university teachers are basically put on the shelf after they are published in international journals. This is a waste of national scientific research resources." said Cao Jianguo, head of the Hebei Pilot Test Base of Tsinghua University. The value should be industrialized application, but at present, the proportion of invention patents in universities that transform technological achievements is relatively low.
"Most of the scientific and technological achievements of Tsinghua University's patent transfer in 2020 are one-off technology transfers. College teachers lack enthusiasm, so the proportion of successful industrialization is not high." Cao Jianguo introduced, "The transformation of scientific and technological achievements requires the participation of college teachers. It is a technological inventor who is most familiar with and understands the technology. Without their in-depth participation, the pilot test of the project would be difficult to succeed, let alone the industrialization. Tsinghua University has reached the pilot stage of the technology, and the success rate of the final industrialization is also insufficient. 5%."
"Now it is necessary to encourage university teachers to actively participate in industrial transformation." The relevant person in charge of the State Intellectual Property Office said that universities are one of the most abundant places in my country's scientific and technological innovation resources and human resources. Now many companies lack the technology needed for industrial upgrading. The time is right to mine high-value patents. Now there are about 600,000 to 700,000 invention patents in Chinese universities.
According to reports, the high success rate of the transformation project of scientific and technological achievements in which university teachers who invented technology participated deeply, the results are gratifying: Except for Zhang Yueming of Beijing University of Technology to break the monopoly of Japanese enterprises and solve the problem of domestic industrial robots going to high-end, universities have emerged in recent years. A large number of industrialization results have been produced. For example, the research and development team of Professor Bi Yusui of Shandong University of Technology invented a new type of foaming agent, an invention patent license fee of 500 million yuan; Academician Zhou Honghao of Central South University "Individualized medical genetic testing technology" 7 invention patents, The transfer fee is 180 million yuan; the patent technology contract of Southwest Jiaotong University's second-generation maglev project prototype vehicle has been signed for more than 100 million yuan... The high-value scientific and technological achievements of universities in Beijing, Shandong, Hunan, and Sichuan have all been successfully transformed.
The reality is "embarrassing": the successful transformation of scientific and technological achievements is not as good as publishing more papers
Although a research result from the laboratory to the successful industrialization, technical inventors have to spend a lot of time and energy, but also to overcome many difficulties such as theoretical verification, pilot test, capital investment, international market competition, but the embarrassing thing is that in the current In the title evaluation system, people like Zhang Yueming do not have the upper hand, and they can only rely on exceptional promotion to professors.
Si Pengbo, deputy director of the Personnel Department of Beijing University of Technology, told reporters that “there are indeed undesirable tendencies in the evaluation of professional titles in colleges and universities, such as'thesis only', only projects, and'only hats'. The evaluation has pointed out the direction. The school is exploring classification and diversified evaluation mechanisms in the work of professional title evaluation and high-level talent evaluation. It is opening a green channel for outstanding teachers who have made outstanding contributions and major breakthroughs. Zhang Yueming is a typical representative who has benefited from the reform of talent evaluation. He successfully solved the "stuck neck" technology of industrial robots and realized industrialization. He has broken through the qualifications of professional title evaluation and successfully promoted to professor. It has also become a milestone in the school's talent evaluation reform."
"Not only in universities, but also in scientific research institutes, the problem of'hat-oriented and paper-oriented' has not been solved." Academician Zhong Can Ouyang introduced, "There is a young scientific researcher who invented the three-primary color laser display and Successfully achieved industrialization, but the college has repeatedly recommended to the school to evaluate professors, but because there are no “hats” such as “Youqing” and “Jieqing” are brushed off. Teachers who have successfully transformed scientific and technological achievements are not as good as publishing more papers in the evaluation of professional titles. It greatly affects the enthusiasm of scientific researchers and urgently needs to be changed."
Use professional title review policies to stimulate teachers’ enthusiasm to participate in the transformation of results
"Now, more and more teachers are engaged in the transformation of scientific research results in universities, and thousands of patents are marketed every year. In addition to Tsinghua University, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Harbin Institute of Technology, and Central South University are all large enterprises engaged in the transformation of scientific research results. In 2020, Shanghai Jiao Tong University transferred 1,331 patents, and Harbin Institute of Technology transferred 1,020 patents. A large number of university teachers have embarked on the front line of achievement transformation. In addition to material achievement awards, they should be tilted in the evaluation of professional titles and other talent evaluations to inspire colleges and universities The enthusiasm of teachers to participate in the transformation of results. Especially in the field of basic research, the results of basic research cannot be automatically transformed into the foundation of industrial development. It is even more necessary for college teachers to spend more energy to participate in the transformation of results. Zhang Yueming is a typical example." National Intellectual Property According to Han Xiucheng, director of the Intellectual Property Development Research Center of the Bureau.
The research results of Liu Yichun, president of Northeast Normal University, confirmed Han Xiucheng’s statement: Taking the National Natural Science Foundation of China as an example, a total of 564,900 basic research projects were funded from 1986 to 2019, and 3,942,700 research results were produced, but the related results are very good. There are few examples of the transition from basic research to industrialization like Zhang Yueming, a teacher at Beijing University of Technology.
In this regard, Academician Nie Zuoren said that colleges and universities are the "ivory towers" of the society and an important force leading the development of innovation. In the new era, it is necessary to innovate in mechanisms and systems and be inclined in terms of professional title evaluation.
The survey "Who is most qualified to evaluate professors in colleges and universities" conducted by our newspaper on the official Weibo of Guangming Daily on the 11th also showed that the talent evaluation system oriented to the transformation of scientific and technological achievements is highly anticipated: Among the 858 people who participated in the survey, 601 Some people choose “the effect of industrialization of results is good”, which exceeds 70% of the participants; only 16% choose “scientific research papers to be published the most.” Some netizens even bluntly said: “Innovative technologies are urgently needed for the upgrading of various industries in the country. The evaluation of professors and academicians who have succeeded in transforming scientific and technological achievements should be based mainly on the achievements of industrialization."
(Our reporter Yuan Yufei)