Author(s)

Le Wang, Yue Wang, Wanliang Dai

Corresponding Author

Yue Wang

Abstract

National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars is one of the most important national research programs in China, supports young scholars who have made outstanding achievements in basic research to select their own research directions and conduct creative research. This paper uses annual statistical data from the National Natural Science Foundation of China to analyze the funding scale and approved programs distribution of this program in 2017. The result shows that, the overall approval rate of the project is 7.38%, and the amount of funding for each project in most disciplines is 3.5 million Yuan, only mathematics and management disciplines are 2.45 million Yuan per project. Among the approved projects, the proportion of engineering & materials disciplines is 19.58%, which accounts for the largest proportion; the proportion of management disciplines is 2.52%, which accounts for the smallest proportion. Beijing and Shanghai have the largest number of projects approved, accounting for 39.39% and 18.69% of the country. Some provinces have only received a small number of projects, and some have not. 73.74% of the approved projects belong to the universities, and 26.26% of the projects belong to the research institutions. The National Natural Science Foundation of China should encourage more scholars to apply for this program, increase the approval rate, and optimize the amount of funding.

Keywords

National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, National Natural Science Foundation of China, program funding, approval rate, young scholar