Recently, the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) announced the evaluation results of NSFC projects in 2018. According tothe report, a total of 50 projects in our universityaresponsored by NSFC, 16 more than that in 2017, with an increase of47.1%.The number of NSFC projectswe hostedexceeded50 for the first timeever. The total amount of direct funding for projects reachedRMB 22.845 million, growing by RMB 6.365 million—a growth rate of 38.6%basedon a year-on-year basis. Horizontally, in terms of the number of our NSFC projects, our university is ranked the 6thamong provincial colleges and universities, and 15thamong agricultural and forestry colleges and universities in the country. In terms of the amount of funding, our university is ranked the 5thamong provincial colleges and universities, and 11thamong agricultural and forestry colleges and universities in the country. Our university has made a historic breakthrough in the number of projectsandthe amount of funding and the rate of NSFC project,which in itselfpresentsa generous gift for the 60thanniversary of the university.
In terms of the typesof projects,there are29 surface projects, 20 projects for Distinguished Young Scholars, andoneproject of Joint Fundsforour university have been approved. In terms of the project distribution of science departments, the projects involvesixdepartments of science. Specifically, there arefourprojects from the Department of Mathematical and Physical Sciences,onefrom the Department of Chemistry and Sciences, 36 from the Department of Life Sciences,fivefrom the Department of Earth Science,twofrom the Department of Engineering and Material Sciences, andtwofrom the Department of Management. In terms of the project distribution of the college, there are 13 projects from the Forestry College,ninefrom the Agricultural College,eightfrom the Collegeof Environmentaland Resources Science,sevenfrom the Engineering College,sixfrom the Animal Sciences College,fourfrom the Science College,twofrom the Economicsand Management College andonefrom the Garden College.
The university attaches great importance to the application of the National Natural ScienceFoundation andholds the NSFC project application mobilization and training conference, at which the principal made a speech on mobilizing the NSFC application. The university continues to step up publicity efforts to actively create an academic atmosphere for teachers to apply forNSFC projects,as well as review the achievements, projects and research teams of the Institute in thepreviousfive years. The university has encouraged and guided teachers to apply for 277 NSFC projects, the number of whichis anewhigh. In order to improve the quality of the applications, the Science and Technology Department has also taken the lead in organizing colleges by inviting experts in the field of Natural Sciences to review the NSFC applications of our university, check the reasoning of the application, and conductface-to-face and one-on-one application counseling with the applicants, whichcreatesa solid foundation for the approval of the project.
Whether a university can guarantee the quantity and quality of NSFC projects is an important indicator of its basic research abilities, which also fully reflectsits innovative vitality and sustainable development ability. The indicator is of considerable significance tofurther improvement of the level of scientific research in universities, optimization of subject ecology and promotion of the construction of "double first-class" universities. This time, our university has set a new record in the number of NSFC projects, whichis theresultofteachers' tremendous efforts, the conscientious organization of colleges, and teachers' enthusiasm and confidence to apply for NSFC projects.
