With the recent announcement by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) as to the projects it will fund in 2019, Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) has received funding for 193 projects, up more than 50% on last year. The total amount of funds has exceeded 100 million RMB for the first time in SUSTech’s history, and represents an increase of over 84% on 2018.

SUSTech’s funding rate is first among universities with more than 100 projects in Guangdong province, and continues to focus on core scientific issues.

Among the 193 projects, 77 projects of General Program, 103 projects of Young Scholar Fund, 6 key projects, 1 project of Major National Scientific Instrument and Equipment Development Project, 1 project of National Science Foundation for Distinguished Young Scholars, 1 project of National Science Foundation for Excellent Young Scholars, 2 projects of Major Research Program and 2 projects of Research Fund for International Young Scholars.

SUSTech has received funding for 50% of the key programs it applied for and the total number reached a new high. With six NSFC supported key programs this year, SUSTech will further strengthen its basic research and original innovation capability with the funds.

This year, SUSTech has broken through 100 projects under the Young Scholar funding projects for the first time with a funding rate of 32.80% (National Average Funding Rate: 17.9%), including one recipient of National Science Foundation for Distinguished Young Scholars, one recipient of National Science Foundation for Excellent Young Scholars and 103 recipients of the National Science Foundation for Young Scholars.

The total amount of SUSTech’s NSFC supported major projects and grants increased year on year. Department of Materials Science and Engineering Professor Cheng Xing received the first Major National Scientific Instrument and Equipment Development Project in SUSTech’s history.

The NSFC is an important part of the National Innovation System, and is also a critical source of funds for universities in China for scientific research. Universities use their NSFC funding rate as an important evaluation index to show the scientific research level of their faculty. SUSTech’s funding rate remains over 30%, more than 15 percentage points higher than the national average.

The NSFC General Program funding rate of SUSTech in 2017 and 2018 are 50% and 37% respectively. The limitation rules of the NSFC prevented many SUSTech scholars from applying for the General Program this year. Despite this, SUSTech has maintained a high funding rate in 2019 in excess of 39%, nearly 19 percentage points higher than the national average. It is a reflection of SUSTech’s basic research competitiveness at home and abroad.

SUSTech will continue to improve its scientific research management mechanisms and encourage further innovation. It will also give confidence to its researchers to focus on scientific research and stimulate the innovation, in order to give maximum play to the strategic benefits for the Greater Bay Area.