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Policy

India, China, And Vietnam Too

by Bibiana Campos Seijo
May 18, 2015 | A version of this story appeared in Volume 93, Issue 20

In the past few weeks, C&EN has published a number of international features that mark important changes with repercussions in the global chemical enterprise.

The first was a cover story about the outlook for the chemical industry in India. C&EN senior business correspondent Jean François Tremblay’s fascinating report commemorates Narendra Modi’s first year in government (C&EN, May 4, page 10). Modi was elected on May 26, 2014, with the biggest majority in three decades of national elections.

I was lucky enough to be in India last year during the weeks preceding those elections. The atmosphere was hopeful and ready for change. Economic growth of previous decades had slowed down, and the country was on the brink of entering a period of slumber. Many felt that new leadership was needed to reinvigorate this economic giant. Then along came Modi, the dark horse who promised to restore India to its place in the top tier of world powers. Modi seems to be acting true to his promises, taking measures to further liberalize India’s economy and facilitate foreign investment in the country. One year in, with some of the bureaucracy out of the way and an improved rail and road network, it looks like it’s good times ahead for chemical companies in India.

This issue features a story from Beijing-based freelancer Bree Feng about China’s plans to reform the system used for the provision of funding at universities and research institutes (see page 25). The Chinese government’s plans follow criticism that it is overly involved in academic evaluation and assessed talent on the basis of metrics.

The government has agreed to transfer funding decisions to third-party institutes and will not directly manage the programs it funds. This is a move in the right direction for the research community in China. Academics in particular welcome it because it is likely to bring increased autonomy and freedom.

Chinese researchers are not alone in this debate, as this issue is not unique to China. I’ve observed similar arguments in the U.K. with the Research Excellence Framework. This system, which was previously known as the Research Assessment Exercise, is used to assess the quality of research at every university in the U.K.. Higher education funding bodies in the U.K. allocate about $3 billion of research funding to U.K. universities each year. The funding bodies evaluate universities’ research via this periodic exercise to determine how to distribute those funds.

The process is onerous. Many researchers complain that universities are no longer universities but businesses. And many question whether research quality can be accurately predicted by metrics such as citation numbers. Even after the metrics used in the last Research Excellence Framework were tweaked to include a measure of research impact (and not just quantity), many faculty members remain unconvinced of the validity of the exercise. Their argument, a valid one in my view, is that basing funding judgments on metrics takes autonomy away from academics, encourages short-term thinking, and constrains creativity. I’d add that a perhaps more serious issue is that the exercise does not put an emphasis on the quality of teaching or fostering knowledge.

U.K. funding bodies have committed to continue to refine the process. I suspect it will be difficult. In any case, the evolution of the U.K. assessment system may pave the way for—or be exemplary of—what’s to come for our Chinese colleagues.

And finally, C&EN turns an eye to Vietnam. In this issue, Tremblay describes his recent visit to the country (see page 18). He finds that its chemical sector is growing rapidly, fueled by investment from international firms, particularly those from Japan. Experts say that Vietnam’s business environment is similar to that in China 10 years ago, so for those who missed their opportunity with China, Vietnam may be their second chance, Tremblay suggests.

Views expressed on this page are those of the author and not necessarily those of ACS.

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