The current situation and efficiency improvement of the transformation of science and technology in colleges and universities Transformation of scientific and technological achievements of the National Academy of Sciences
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"In view of the urgent need for high-level scientific and technological self-reliance and self-improvement in the mainland and the improvement of quality and efficiency of scientific and technological innovation, how to fully revitalize the scientific and technological achievements of universities and mobilize the enthusiasm of scientific researchers to transform is an inevitable choice for the implementation of innovation-driven development strategy and the acceleration of the construction of an innovative country." Wan Xiangjun, member of the Executive Committee of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, director of the China Economic and Information Research Center, and director of the China National Conditions Research Center of the National Policy Research Office, read and said.
Wan Xiangjun said: "At present, the transfer and transformation of scientific and technological achievements is still an urgent link to be strengthened in the scientific and technological innovation work of mainland universities, and the gap between scientific and technological achievements and social economy has not been completely bridged, and the overall level of transfer and transformation is low. He said that the article analyzes the current situation and existing problems of the transfer and transformation of scientific and technological achievements in mainland universities, and on the basis of summarizing typical experience, puts forward countermeasures and suggestions on how to effectively improve the efficiency of the transfer and transformation of scientific and technological achievements in mainland universities in the new era.
keyword
transfer and transformation of scientific and technological achievements; industry-university-research cooperation; University
I. Introduction
The 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) further clarified the core position of scientific and technological innovation in the overall situation of the mainland's modernization. The report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China emphasized that it is necessary to strengthen the deep integration of industry, university and research led by enterprises, strengthen goal orientation, and improve the level of transformation and industrialization of scientific and technological achievements. Greatly improving the efficiency of the transfer and transformation of scientific and technological achievements is an inevitable requirement for achieving high-level scientific and technological self-reliance and self-reliance, and it is also the common aspiration of the academic and business circles.
As one of the main sources and suppliers of scientific and technological achievements, colleges and universities have made outstanding contributions to the improvement of enterprise productivity and local economic development through their achievement transformation and technology transfer activities. Promoting the deep integration of government, industry, academia and research, promoting the transfer and transformation of scientific and technological achievements, and serving regional economic development are important starting points for building an innovative country.
However, the transformation of scientific and technological achievements in universities is a gradual process, which needs to be analyzed from multiple dimensions. Based on the industry-university-research cooperation, questionnaire survey, and expert suggestions of mainland universities in recent years, this paper conducts a comprehensive analysis of a series of problems restricting the improvement of the efficiency of the transfer and transformation of scientific and technological achievements in universities, and puts forward countermeasures and suggestions on the basis of summarizing typical experiences.
2. The current situation of the transfer and transformation of scientific and technological achievements in mainland universities
(1) Industry-university-research cooperation effectively promotes the transfer and transformation of scientific and technological achievements in colleges and universities
Colleges and universities are an important subject of innovation activities, an important part of the national strategic scientific and technological forces, and one of the main executors of the transfer and transformation of scientific and technological achievements. At present, colleges and universities have performed well in industry-university-research cooperation, and the amount of achievement transformation has reached new highs. Colleges and universities still need to focus on solving the difficulties and blockages that restrict the transformation of achievements, continue to improve the ability of "turning paper into money", and promote the transformation of a large number of existing scientific and technological achievements into advanced productivity.
According to the 2022 China Patent Survey Report[1] released by the State Intellectual Property Office, in 2022, the effective implementation rate of invention patents in mainland universities was 16.9%, an increase of 3.1% from 2021. The industrialization rate of invention patents in universities was only 3.9%, an increase of 0.9% from 2021. The licensing rate of invention patents in universities was 7.9%, of which 64.3% were ordinary licenses. From 2021 to 2022, the industrialization rate of industry-university-research invention patents with universities as the first patentee was 17.8%, of which nearly eighty percent were completed by key universities, and the activity of industry-university-research cooperation in promoting the transfer and transformation of scientific and technological achievements in universities has increased significantly.
According to the 2021 Annual Report on the Transformation of China's Scientific and Technological Achievements (Universities and Research Institutes) [2], the transformation of scientific and technological achievements in colleges and universities has taken various forms, and the number of high-value industry-university-research cooperation and transformation contracts has gradually increased, mainly reflected in the fact that 3,554 colleges and universities completed 466882 contracts for the transformation of scientific and technological achievements during 2020, with a total amount of 125.61 billion yuan.
Among them, there were 20,977 contracts for the transformation of transfer, licensing and valuation investment methods, with an amount of more than 20 billion yuan; More than 40 colleges and universities have a single transformation contract value of more than 100 million yuan, and individuals have received cash and equity awards of 5.59 billion yuan; 445905 industry-university-research cooperation contracts, amounting to 105.35 billion yuan; Other types include: 1,106 R&D institutions and technology transfer and transformation service platforms jointly built with enterprises, 2,808 new companies established and shared, and 14,043 part-time entrepreneurs engaged in the transformation of achievements and off-the-job entrepreneurs.
Figure 1 shows the changes in the number and value of contracts for the transformation of scientific and technological achievements in mainland universities from 2016 to 2020, with the main characteristics as follows:
First, the scale of transformation of scientific and technological achievements is increasing. The total number of contracts converted through transfer, licensing, valuation investment, etc., has increased year by year, and the total amount has also shown a significant upward trend. The number of achievements with a single conversion contract value exceeding 100 million yuan has also continued to grow.
Figure 1 Changes in the number of contracts for the transformation of scientific and technological achievements in universities from 2016 to 2020
Second, the transaction amount of the transformation of scientific and technological achievements continued to rise. The overall average transaction price of scientific and technological achievements increased from 2.257 million yuan in 2016 to 5.016 million yuan in 2020 (see Figure 2). The average contract value of technology transfer decreased from 749,000 yuan in 2016 to 486,000 yuan in 2020; The average contract value of technology licensing increased from 569,000 yuan in 2016 to 1,107,000 yuan in 2020. The average contract value converted by technology-based investment increased from 5.453 million yuan in 2016 to 13.354 million yuan in 2020.
It is worth noting that the average transaction price of scientific and technological achievements in 2018 was the highest in recent years, at 17.677 million yuan, of which technology transfer, licensing and valuation investment were 684,000 yuan, 1.4 million yuan and 15.593 million yuan respectively; High-value individual conversion contracts such as Sichuan University's "new coronavirus vaccine" (511 million yuan) continue to emerge[2].
Figure 2 The average contract value of scientific and technological achievements transformed by technology transfer, licensing, and investment from 2016 to 2020
Third, the incentive role of income distribution for the transformation of scientific and technological achievements has been significantly enhanced. The amount of rewarded individuals accounts for more than 50% of the total cash and equity income of achievement transformation, and the amount of rewards for major contributors to R&D and transformation accounts for more than 90% of the total amount of rewarded individuals.
Fourth, new channels for industry-university-research cooperation continue to expand. The number of new R&D institutions, service platforms for the transfer and transformation of technological achievements, and the number of new companies established or participated in by universities and enterprises increased from 1,088 in 2016 to 2,808 in 2020 (see Figure 3). In addition, the transformation of scientific and technological achievements in colleges and universities also shows regional distribution differences, showing the characteristics of more in the southeast and less in the northwest.
The information asymmetry between university research teams, scientific and technological achievements and market demand is still one of the important factors restricting the improvement of transformation efficiency. The cultivation and training of technical managers in colleges and universities is very important to improve the efficiency of the transfer and transformation of scientific and technological achievements in colleges and universities. To this end, the relevant policies continue to support the establishment of transfer and transformation institutions in colleges and universities, and also pay great attention to the construction of talent system.
Figure 3 From 2016 to 2020, universities and enterprises jointly established and participated in new companies
(2) The policy combination will drive the transfer and transformation of scientific and technological achievements in colleges and universities, both in quantity and quality
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the reform of the transfer and transformation system of scientific and technological achievements in the mainland has been prominent, and has successively revised the "Law on Promoting the Transformation of Scientific and Technological Achievements", "Patent Law", "Science and Technology Progress Law" and other laws, and actively adopted fiscal, tax, financial, talent and other policies, as well as the establishment of technology factor markets, business incubators, technology concept verification and pilot maturation platforms, university science and technology parks, technology accelerators, high-tech industrial development zones, regional technology transfer centers, international science and technology cooperation bases and other comprehensive measures. Multi-channel collaboration to promote the transfer and transformation of scientific and technological achievements has been effective, and the overall characteristics are as follows:
First, the central and local policies to promote the transformation of scientific and technological achievements have been intensively launched. Up to now, a series of specific measures have been introduced at the national and local levels around the implementation of a series of policies such as the "Trilogy of Transformation of Scientific and Technological Achievements". The policy system covers five aspects: overall requirements, basic institutions, optimization of transfer channels, policy environment, and organization and implementation. Among them, the content related to basic institutions and policy environment accounts for a relatively high proportion; secondly, to organize the implementation and optimization of the transfer channel; The overall requirement has the lowest weight.
At the national level, in February 2020, the Ministry of Education, the State Intellectual Property Office and the Ministry of Science and Technology jointly issued the Several Opinions on Improving the Quality of Patents in Colleges and Universities and Promoting the Transformation and Application (Jiao Ke Ke [2020] No. 1)[3], which aims to focus on strengthening the creation, application and management of high-value patents. In May 2020, the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Education issued the Implementation Opinions on Further Promoting the Construction and Development of Specialized Technology Transfer Institutions in Colleges and Universities (Guo Ke Fa District [2020] No. 133)[4], which is committed to promoting the high-quality construction and professional development of technology transfer institutions in colleges and universities.
In May 2020, nine departments, including the Ministry of Science and Technology, issued the "Pilot Implementation Plan for Giving Scientific Research Personnel the Ownership or Long-term Use Right of Scientific and Technological Achievements" (Guo Ke Fa Zone [2020] No. 128)[5], focusing on exploring the establishment of mechanisms and models for granting scientific research personnel the ownership or long-term use rights of scientific and technological achievements. In June 2021, the State Intellectual Property Office and the Ministry of Education jointly issued the Implementation Measures for the Construction of Intellectual Property Information Service Centers in Colleges and Universities (Revision) (Guo Zhi Ban Fa Fu Zi [2021] No. 23)[6] to help improve the ability of scientific and technological achievements of universities to serve the high-quality development of the economy and society.
In June 2022, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and the State Intellectual Property Office jointly issued the Notice on Organizing and Carrying out the "Thousands of Schools and Thousands of Enterprises" Collaborative Innovation Partnership Action (Jiao Ke Xin Ting Han [2022] No. 26)[7], which is committed to promoting the construction of a number of school-enterprise innovation consortiums and supporting the exploration of new mechanisms and models of school-enterprise collaborative innovation.
In December 2022, the Ministry of Education, the State Intellectual Property Office, and the Ministry of Science and Technology jointly issued the Notice on Organizing and Carrying out the Action of Cultivating and Transforming "Hundreds of Schools and Thousands of High-Value Patents" (Jiao Ke Xin Ting Han [2022] No. 42) [8], which aims to explore a number of scientific and technological achievements of universities with good marketization prospects, lay out and form a large number of high-value patents, promote the transformation and implementation of thousands of high-value patent achievements, and build a new model and mechanism for the cultivation, transformation and application of high-value patents that can be promoted and replicated.
At the local level, Henan Province and Shanxi Province have revised the Regulations of Henan Province on Promoting the Transformation of Scientific and Technological Achievements and the Regulations of Shanxi Province on Promoting the Transformation of Scientific and Technological Achievements, both of which have been implemented since January 1, 2020, further standardizing the operating paradigm of rewarding the benefits of the transformation of scientific and technological achievements. On January 21, 2020, six departments, including the Sichuan Provincial Department of Science and Technology, issued the "Several Policies and Measures to Expand the Scientific Research Autonomy of Universities and Research Institutes" (Chuan Ke Gui [2020] No. 2)[9] to further expand the scientific research autonomy of universities and strive to establish and improve the management mechanism of scientific research activities based on the premise of trust.
On May 29, 2020, the Beijing Municipal Education Commission and the Hebei Provincial Department of Education, together with their local counterparts, respectively formulated the "Opinions on Further Improving the Patent Quality of Universities in Beijing and Accelerating the Transfer and Transformation of Scientific and Technological Achievements" (Jing Jiao Yan [2020] No. 5) [10] and "Several Opinions on Improving the Quality of Patents in Colleges and Universities in Hebei Province and Promoting the Transformation and Application" (Ji Jiaoke [2020] No. 8) [11], which are committed to improving the quality of patents in universities and accelerating the transfer and transformation of scientific and technological achievements.
On August 24, 2020, 9 departments including the Department of Science and Technology of Shandong Province jointly issued the "Comprehensive Pilot Implementation Plan for Deepening the Transformation of Scientific and Technological Achievements in Provincial Colleges and Research Institutes" (Lu Ke Zi [2020] No. 65) [12], which mainly focuses on deepening the reform of the ownership of scientific and technological achievements, improving the incentive measures for the transformation of scientific and technological achievements, and promoting the acceleration of the transformation of scientific and technological achievements into real productivity.
On July 30, 2021, five departments, including the Department of Science and Technology of Zhejiang Province, issued the "Implementation Opinions on Strengthening the Transformation of Scientific and Technological Achievements in Universities and Institutes" (Zhe Ke Fa Cheng [2021] No. 20) [13], aiming to give full play to the important role of the transformation of scientific and technological achievements in enhancing the scientific and technological innovation capabilities of Zhejiang Province. On November 25, 2021, the General Office of the People's Government of Henan Province issued the "Implementation Opinions on Improving the Scientific and Technological Innovation Capabilities of Universities" (Yu Zheng Ban [2021] No. 68)[14], which plans to accelerate the construction of a first-class innovation ecology, build a national innovation highland, enhance the scientific and technological innovation capabilities of universities in Henan Province, and serve economic and social development.
The second is to improve the income distribution system that reflects the value of knowledge. To protect and stimulate the enthusiasm, initiative and creativity of scientific research personnel in innovation and entrepreneurship, practical measures are needed to encourage more and better results, and to create a good atmosphere of respect for knowledge, talent and creativity in the whole society. By increasing the incentive of performance distribution, the income of scientific research personnel is closely related to the actual contribution, and a mechanism is formed in the whole society to encourage the use of knowledge to create value and let value creators get reasonable returns.
According to the survey, 92% of colleges and universities have established a reward and remuneration system for service inventions, which rewards and remuneration are given to inventors in accordance with the law, and rewards are given to those who have contributed to the use of intellectual property rights. 54% of universities have explicitly used part of the 2020 IP funding to reward those who have made substantial contributions to research and the transfer and transformation of scientific and technological achievements.
(3) The overall situation of patent operation in colleges and universities is improving
First, the number of patent operations in colleges and universities has increased. The mode of operation of patents mainly refers to the transfer, licensing, and pledge of patents [15]. In 2020, 28,140 patents were transferred, 3,352 were licensed, and 609 were pledged. In 2019, 17,953 patents were transferred, 3,006 were licensed, and 569 were pledged. In 2019, there were 13,242 registrations of patent transfer of patent achievements, 1,416 authorizations, and 417 pledges of universities nationwide[2].
The total amount of patent market operations in universities is generally growing gradually, with an average annual growth rate of 46%, and the data of 167 universities surveyed in the 2021 Annual Report on the Transformation of China's Scientific and Technological Achievements (Universities and Research Institutes) also shows that the scale of market-oriented operation of university patents has risen rapidly, in addition to doubling the total amount of invention patent transfer in universities, and a large number of successful representatives of the market-oriented operation of university patents such as East China University of Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, and Jiangsu University of Science and Technology have also emerged. A variety of methods such as commercial transfer of intellectual property rights are used to realize the market value of scientific and technological achievements [2].
Second, the cooperation between industry, university and research institutes in universities is prominent. There are three main types of cooperation between universities and research institutes, universities and enterprises, and universities and universities. Among them, in 2020, there were 3,966 university-research institute cooperation, 2,136 university-enterprise cooperation, and 61 university-university cooperation; In 2019, there were 2,495 university-research institute cooperation, 2,038 university-enterprise cooperation, and 54 university-university cooperation. In 2018, there were 2,020 university-research institute collaborations, 1,587 university-enterprise collaborations, and 36 university-university collaborations [2].
At the same time, universities pay more attention to process management when carrying out licensing and transfer for enterprises, and 85% of universities will investigate the implementation willingness of the licensee or transferee to prevent potential malicious licensing and purchase behaviors. 97% of universities monitor the entire licensing and transfer process.
(4) The amount of patent conversion in colleges and universities has reached new highs, and the operational performance is remarkable
First, the turnover of a single university patent broke the record. Encourage professional teams to guide the development of precise layout, timely promote the collaborative innovation of industry, university and research and the transfer and transformation of scientific and technological achievements, and promote the accurate, efficient and high-value transformation of scientific and technological achievements in colleges and universities. For example, the State Intellectual Property Office has set up a "Micro Patent Navigation Working Group" to station in Shandong University of Technology, and guided Professor Bi Yusui's team to carry out patent layout analysis, drafting and application around the "new chemical foaming agent of chlorine-free fluoropolyurethane" developed by it, comprehensively analyze the relevant core patents, and expand the scope of protection as much as possible
It has set up a patent fence around the potential application direction of the downstream industrial chain, and has applied for more than 40 domestic invention patents and 3 PCT patents, covering major developed countries such as Europe, the United States and Japan. The technology is environmentally friendly and low-cost, breaking the long-term monopoly of foreign countries in this field. Professor Bi's team finally signed an exclusive license agreement with Shandong Butian New Material Technology Co., Ltd. for the patented technology, which was successfully transformed with 520 million yuan.
Among them, Bi Yusui's team received 400 million yuan, and according to the notice of the Ministry of Finance, the State Administration of Taxation and the Ministry of Science and Technology on the individual income tax policies related to cash rewards for the transformation of scientific and technological achievements by scientific and technological personnel (CS [2018] No. 58) [16], the individual income tax was reduced by 50% according to law.
Second, the performance of patent industrialization operation in colleges and universities is remarkable. We will build a full-chain service system for the operation of market-oriented entities, improve the public trading and supervision system for the transformation of technological achievements, expand the field of industry-university-research cooperation, and promote the construction of academician and expert workstations, the formulation of industry standards, the cultivation of common key technologies, the training of professional talents and the training of industrial workers. For example, the patented technology of "polyester melt direct spinning" of the team of academician Chen Wenxing of Zhejiang Sci-Tech University is internationally leading, green and low-carbon, and its transfer amount is as high as 100 million yuan, which can effectively promote the green transformation of the textile industry.
3. Challenges faced by the transfer and transformation of scientific and technological achievements in mainland universities
Up to now, universities in China have more than 100 national key laboratories, and have undertaken more than two-thirds of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, and nearly 70% of the National Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars projects are in universities. The major scientific and technological achievements completed by universities account for 20% of the country, but only about 30% of them have been transformed, far lower than 60%~70% in developed countries [17].
(1) The construction of specialized and market-oriented technology transfer institutions is insufficient
During the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, some colleges and universities have successively established departments for the transfer and transformation of technological achievements, and have achieved certain results, but the problems of "sleeping" in the laboratory, the spread of "underground transformation channels", the lack of personnel for professional and technical transfer and transformation, and the limited operating funds of the department are still prominent. The main reasons include: the maturity of some achievements is not high, the right confirmation mechanism is unclear, the interest chain has not been straightened out, etc., and the lack of professional and market-oriented technology transfer institutional support is also one of the shortcomings of universities.
First, the institutions for the transfer and transformation of scientific and technological achievements in colleges and universities have not yet achieved "full coverage". According to statistics, although 95% of universities have formulated a collective decision-making system for major matters related to the transfer and transformation of scientific and technological achievements, only 76% of universities have built an intellectual property information management platform. Some colleges and universities have not yet set up offices specializing in the transfer and transformation of scientific and technological achievements, and some universities are still in charge of the work by the science and technology management department, or transfer personnel from other administrative departments to form a department for the transfer and transformation of achievements.
Second, professionals in the transfer and transformation of scientific and technological achievements are still relatively scarce. The composition of mainland universities and institutes is mainly teachers and students, and the number of people participating in social services such as the transformation of scientific and technological achievements accounts for a small proportion, which has a certain impact on the efficiency of the transformation of scientific and technological achievements in universities. The transfer and transformation of scientific and technological achievements is a systematic project, and the personnel engaged in this work must not only understand technology, but also understand law, investment and financing, and also be able to manage and coordinate to a certain extent. "2021 Annual Report on the Transformation of China's Scientific and Technological Achievements (Universities and Research Institutes)".
Among the intellectual property professional teams of 167 universities, 341 are qualified as patent agents, with an average of only 2 per school. There are 1,391 technical manager qualifications, with an average of only 8 students per school. Only 65% of universities have IP specialists for major research projects, and 50% have trained, mentored and evaluated IP specialists[2].
(2) The monitoring, evaluation and application system for the transfer and transformation of scientific and technological achievements in colleges and universities needs to be improved
Improving the system of disclosure of on-the-job scientific and technological achievements, pre-application evaluation and transformation publicity, and evaluation of scientific and technological achievements oriented to transformation and application is the key to promoting the transfer and transformation of achievements. Although the Law on Promoting the Transformation of Scientific and Technological Achievements has been revised, the relevant systems of the monitoring, evaluation and application system need to be improved urgently, and there are still problems such as too many low-value patents, the loss of interests of universities due to the lack of intellectual property awareness, and the lack of assessment of transformation risk investment. In addition, universities should further strengthen the ability to monitor, evaluate and apply the results of the transformation of scientific and technological achievements, so as to better promote the transfer and transformation of scientific and technological achievements.
First, there is a lack of a full-caliber statistical system for the transfer and transformation of scientific and technological achievements. There is still a lack of consensus on what is the transfer and transformation of scientific and technological achievements and how to use scientific indicators and methods to measure the level of transformation of scientific and technological achievements. The current science and technology statistics system mainly includes: patent registration system, scientific and technological achievement registration system, national science and technology plan statistics and technology trading market. However, the above systems only focus on monitoring the output of scientific and technological innovation activities under the influence of specific factors, and there is a certain degree of overlap, which cannot fully reflect the overall situation of the transfer and transformation of scientific and technological achievements in universities.
Second, there is a lack of pre-filing evaluation. The construction of the pre-screening and evaluation system for intellectual property applications should be strengthened. According to the survey, 67% of universities have not carried out pre-filing assessments, and about 66% have not clarified the evaluation institutions and processes. In fact, pre-filing evaluation is essential if you want to improve the quality and quantity of patents granted.
However, universities lack experience and practices that can be used for reference, and have not yet effectively established a mechanism for regular reporting of evaluation results, and the mechanism of linking evaluation results with factor allocation and financial transfer payment of universities has not yet been implemented. As can be seen from Figure 4, there is a huge difference between the number of international patent applications and the number of grants, with an average success rate of less than 5%, which indicates that pre-application evaluation is necessary to improve the quality of patents and avoid the redundancy of low-value patents.
Third, the quantitative evaluation system of comprehensive indicators for the transformation of scientific and technological achievements has not yet taken shape. The main embodiment is: the measurement standard is relatively simple, the number of indicators is small, and it is difficult to present the economic benefits and industry value of the transformation of achievements in three dimensions; The logical relationship between the indicators needs to be further clarified to reflect the process logic of achievement transformation and the correlation between indicators. The social perception is not strong, and it fails to show the important role of the transformation of scientific and technological achievements in promoting national economic and social development and improving people's livelihood, and there are problems such as hyping the conversion rate of scientific and technological achievements.
(3) The boundary of state-owned asset management is not clear, and the pilot maturation link of scientific and technological achievements is weak
First, scientific and technological achievements are not compatible with the current state-owned asset management system. The state-owned nature of the vast majority of universities in mainland China determines that the transfer and transformation of scientific and technological achievements is an activity with the attributes of the use and disposal of state-owned assets, and its management system is relatively complex and the implementation period is long. Studies have shown that 37% and 52% of respondents, respectively, want to "simplify the regulatory procedures for state-owned assets" and "develop guidance standards for results-based pricing" [18].
Due to the lack of scientific and effective evaluation methods for the market value of scientific and technological achievements, it is easy for all parties to disagree on the valuation of the transaction results. Although universities and institutes are allowed to decide whether to conduct asset appraisal at the time of listing and auctioning, most units are still worried about the loss of state-owned assets and do not dare to make decisions lightly. Only 38% of university IP management departments have established an IP asset inventory and a corresponding analysis and evaluation system. Therefore, it is urgent to introduce an exemption mechanism for leadership decision-making on matters related to the transfer and transformation of scientific and technological achievements.
Figure 4 Number of international patent applications and grants from 2016 to 2020
Second, the pilot maturation link of scientific and technological achievements is relatively weak. The lack of a public pilot service platform for science and technology is one of the important bottlenecks of the low efficiency of scientific and technological innovation industrialization in mainland China. When faced with innovation risks, companies are reluctant to invest too much in pilot activities. According to a survey result, 75% of the respondents hope to "strengthen the construction of integrated service platforms such as pilot test bases and supply and demand docking" [18].
Third, the accuracy of the supply and demand docking of scientific and technological achievements still needs to be improved. In terms of the understanding of the connotation of scientific and technological achievements by universities and enterprises, there is an essential difference between the two. There is still a lack of efficient and accurate docking mechanisms and platforms between supply and demand between schools and enterprises, and the "four onlys" have not been completely broken, and the value of some patents is low, and the market demand has not been fully considered. Therefore, it is necessary to effectively enhance the core competitiveness of enterprises by solidly promoting the "trilogy" of industry-university-research in-depth cooperation of the "Thousands of Schools and Thousands of Enterprises" collaborative innovation partnership action, the "Hundreds of Schools and Thousands of Projects" high-value patent cultivation and transformation action, and the "Hundred Schools and Thousands of Cities" future industry cultivation action [19].
(4) Supporting services cannot keep up, and services such as policy publicity are still not in place
First, the transfer and conversion service cannot keep up. The transfer and transformation of technological achievements in colleges and universities requires the cooperation of government departments, universities, scientific research institutions and enterprises, as well as the social intermediary organizations engaged in the transfer and transformation of scientific and technological achievements to provide relevant services. The development of the mainland technology market is still immature, and universities have not established a complete system for the transfer and transformation of scientific and technological achievements and the training of comprehensive service talents, and there is a lack of clear channels for promotion of professional titles and evaluation and incentive mechanisms, and there is a shortage of transformation service talents who understand both technology and market and operation.
Second, the policy publicity system needs to be strengthened. There are many departments and channels that issue policies for the transfer and transformation of scientific and technological achievements, and there is no unified platform at present. The awareness of scientific researchers in some units is low, most of the achievement transformation policies are less than 60%, and the awareness of a few policies is even less than 40%, which indirectly leads to the wait-and-see attitude of scientific researchers on the transfer and transformation of scientific and technological achievements.
4. Typical experience of mainland universities in promoting the transfer and transformation of scientific and technological achievements
Since the "13th Five-Year Plan", colleges and universities have continued to make efforts in the main position of scientific and technological innovation, actively promoted the application of achievements in the main battlefield of the economy, and accumulated a series of useful experiences.
(1) The construction of technology transfer institutions and the cultivation of talent teams to build a good ecological environment
The first is to strengthen the top-level design of the transformation of scientific and technological achievements and improve the environment for scientific and technological innovation. Strengthen the construction of the organization for the transformation of scientific and technological achievements, and build a new pattern for the transformation of scientific and technological achievements in colleges and universities. For example, Peking University transferred all patent applications and other work to the Ministry of Science and Technology Development; Shanghai's major universities have comprehensively established internal institutions in the form of scientific and technological achievement transformation centers.
Universities represented by Tongji University and Shanghai University have formed a relatively complete system for the transfer and transformation of scientific and technological achievements and have corresponding talent teams. Dalian University of Technology has built a full-chain system consisting of 2 top-level plans, 8 management measures and 5 sets of implementation rules.
The second is to integrate scientific and technological resources and promote the transfer and transformation of scientific and technological achievements in colleges and universities. Colleges and universities should make full use of internal resources, and cooperate with external resources such as local governments and enterprises to establish relevant professional institutions with comprehensive services in the whole chain. For example, Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, supported by the approval of the "Zhongguancun Science City Proof-of-Concept Center", cooperated with relevant units to build the Beihang Proof-of-Concept Center; Zhejiang University effectively integrates the resources of internal institutions such as the Institute of Science and Technology and the Institute of Industrial Technology Transformation to promote the transfer and transformation of scientific and technological achievements and innovation and entrepreneurship.
The third is to set up a master's degree in "technology transfer" to cultivate a high-level and professional talent team. Colleges and universities with teaching capacity and resources should set up technology transfer teaching, research courses or high-level talent training programs. For example, Tsinghua University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Changzhou University and other universities have taken the lead in launching the training of technology transfer graduate students in the country, contributing to the expansion of the technology transfer talent team. Among them, the Beijing Municipal Education Commission, together with the Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Commission, the Zhongguancun Management Committee and other departments, jointly supported the PBC School of Finance of Tsinghua University to carry out the cultivation of technology transfer graduate-level talents.
(2) Cultivation and layout of high-value patents, and strengthening demand orientation
The first is to carry out pre-application evaluation work to improve the comprehensive benefits of the transformation of patent achievements. This system ensures that patents are evaluated in terms of technology, talent, law, market application prospects, etc.
The second is to promote the decision-making mechanism of industrial patent navigation to provide effective support for scientific and technological innovation. Implement the latest series of national standards of the mainland's "Patent Navigation Guide", and promote the application of patent navigation achievements. For example, in November 2019, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine released the first patent navigation report on the traditional Chinese medicine health industry in Sichuan Province, which clarified the positioning and development path of the traditional Chinese medicine health industry in Sichuan Province, provided decision-making reference for industrial development, and boosted the high-quality development of the traditional Chinese medicine health industry.
The third is to implement high-value patent cultivation projects to improve the quality of patents from the source of innovation. Focus on the advantageous disciplines of colleges and universities, guide the formation of a number of high-quality patent portfolios with high technical content, stable and reasonable scope of protection, and market competitive advantages and potential, and focus on mining and cultivating them.
(3) Innovate the incentive model of scientific and technological achievements to stimulate innovation vitality
The first is to improve the property rights system for scientific and technological achievements and explore new models for incentives for property rights of scientific and technological achievements. Establish the important concept of "only the transformation and application of scientific and technological achievements can truly reflect the value of innovation, and non-transformation is the greatest loss", strive to break the policy and legal obstacles between intellectual property control and the transfer of ownership of scientific and technological achievements, give professional and technical personnel the short-term, medium- and long-term rights of owners of scientific and technological achievements, and implement an income distribution policy with the main goal of appropriately improving the value level of intellectual property rights of enterprises.
For example, Southwest Jiaotong University proposes to carry out mixed ownership transformation of post scientific and technological achievements, that is, the ownership of post scientific and technological achievements from the original single state ownership to the mixed ownership by the state and the person who completes the results, give scientific research personnel the ownership and long-term use rights of post scientific and technological achievements, implement the distribution policy oriented to increase the value of knowledge, and issue the "Southwest Jiaotong University Patent Management Regulations", which will change the current "transformation first, then confirmation of rights" adopted by most colleges and universities into "first confirmation of rights, and then transformation".
The second is to standardize the part-time salary and off-the-job entrepreneurship of school teachers, and stimulate the innovation and entrepreneurship vitality of scientific and technological talents in colleges and universities. Support and encourage scientific research personnel in colleges and universities to engage in the transfer and transformation of scientific and technological achievements on a part-time basis or off-the-job entrepreneurship with the consent of the unit on the premise of performing their job responsibilities, and clarify the relevant policies on intellectual property value assessment, income distribution, and equity investment.
For example, Zhengzhou University standardizes the approval system for professional and technical personnel to leave their posts and start businesses, and actively implements the requirements of the Henan Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial Government's "10,000 people help 10,000 enterprises" activity, launches the support plan for young talent enterprise cooperation and innovation team, carries out in-depth cooperation with enterprises, solves the technical problems of enterprises, and promotes the integration of industry and education, industry-university, transfer and transformation of scientific and technological achievements and breakthroughs in core technologies.
5. Countermeasures and suggestions
Management departments at all levels should improve the top-level strategy and science and technology action plan plan, rules and regulations and management mechanism according to the specific situation, improve the corresponding distribution system, technology transfer system and related service guarantees, optimize the environment for the transformation of scientific and technological achievements in colleges and universities, and promote the transfer and transformation of scientific and technological achievements in colleges and universities. In the next step, we need to focus on improving the supply management of scientific and technological achievements, strengthening the construction of technology transfer and transformation institutions, and establishing a think tank for the transfer and transformation of scientific and technological achievements.
(1) Improve the quality of supply of scientific and technological achievements
The first is to strengthen the supervision mechanism from scientific and technological achievements to patents. In the whole process from the output of scientific and technological achievements to the formation of patents, the transfer and transformation departments of universities should be fully granted the authority to manage patent applications, actively use new means of digital management services, increase the supervision of the whole process, introduce a third-party evaluation mechanism, and strengthen process control.
The second is to emphasize the assessment of high-value invention patent application indicators. Establish a fair, scientific and objective system for identifying and evaluating the characteristics of the whole life cycle of patents, and form a patent application model that integrates multi-factor objective evaluation and subjective evaluation. In the evaluation of professional titles and performance evaluations of colleges and universities, high-value invention patent applications, patent maintenance periods, conversion rates, economic benefits and other indicators should be highlighted to form a correct high-quality development orientation.
The third is to encourage and advocate "order-based" and "tender-based" research and development. Optimize the science and technology correspondent system, encourage universities and enterprises to establish in-depth long-term cooperative relations, and realize the deep integration of "scientific research and industry, scientific research teams and enterprises". Guide colleges and universities to pay more attention to cross-cutting topics. For example, horizontal projects that have important output contributions to national economic and social development can be recognized as equivalent to national, provincial and ministerial level projects according to the amount of funds received, implementation performance, etc.
(2) Strengthen the construction of technology transfer institutions and the cultivation of talent teams in colleges and universities
The first is to increase the training of practitioners in technology transfer and transformation. Improve the gradient cultivation system for transformation service professionals, encourage colleges and universities to set up professional degrees related to the transfer and transformation of scientific and technological achievements based on the existing MBA and other systems, and gradually cultivate and form a team of professionals who can serve the transfer and transformation of scientific and technological achievements in mainland universities.
The second is to improve the evaluation and incentive mechanism for practitioners of technology transfer and transformation in colleges and universities. The incentive ratio for investment in scientific and technological achievements should be determined by all parties through negotiation on a case-by-case basis. At the same time, the promotion channel for practitioners in the transfer and transformation of scientific and technological achievements should be unblocked, technology transfer posts should be established, and indicators for the transfer and transformation of scientific and technological achievements should be added in the evaluation of professional titles. For example, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University has set up a separate professional title evaluation channel, which includes the performance of university scientific and technological personnel during the assignment period into the assessment, and serves as the main basis for job evaluation and title promotion.
(3) Improve the statistical reporting system for the transfer and transformation of scientific and technological achievements and the incentive mechanism for performance evaluation
The first is to strengthen the main responsibility for the transformation of achievements of colleges and universities. The education and science and technology management departments should organize colleges and universities to sort out the scientific and technological achievements throughout the year and compile an annual report on the transformation of scientific and technological achievements, summarize them in a timely manner into the technology trading market, promote the efficient docking of achievements and industrial needs, and realize the transformation through research and development cooperation, technology transfer, technology licensing and other forms.
The second is to improve the incentive mechanism for the performance evaluation of the transfer and transformation of scientific and technological achievements. Open up multi-channel assessment methods, adhere to classification, dynamic, and long-term evaluation, and carry out statistical monitoring of "monthly monitoring, quarterly analysis, and annual evaluation". The performance of the transfer and transformation of scientific and technological achievements will be included in the annual assessment of colleges and universities, and linked to discipline evaluation, factor allocation, and financial transfer payment. Units and excellent cases with a high rate of transfer and conversion of scientific and technological achievements and good results of transfer and transformation should be widely publicized and reported through all media channels.
(4) Establish a think tank for the transfer and transformation of scientific and technological achievements and promote the construction of technology verification centers
The first is to establish a think tank for the transfer and transformation of scientific and technological achievements. In accordance with the principle of "professionalization, industrialization and specialization", we should concentrate on building high-end think tanks, and strive to solve problems such as insufficient theoretical support for the transfer and transformation of scientific and technological achievements, lack of talents, and imperfect evaluation system.
The second is to promote the construction of university technology verification centers. Launching the construction of technology verification centers in colleges and universities can quickly improve the transfer and conversion rate of scientific and technological achievements, and at the same time improve the quality of transfer and transformation. For example, the experience of the Technology Verification Center of Shenzhen University in helping the industrialization of achievements includes the provision of verification funds, matching seed funds, and expert consulting services.
(5) Strengthen the linkage circulation policy for factor activation
The first is to iteratively build a public platform for technology trading. Encourage some provinces with the capacity to iteratively build version 3.0 of the online technology market, and establish data standards, management systems, and service specifications; Adhere to the concept of open and shared operation, enrich platform functions and service methods, and improve the platform ecosystem; Improve the mechanism for the release of results and requirements, improve the results information database and technical demand database, and strengthen the exchange of information on technical elements; Strengthen the application of a new generation of information technology, realize the accurate matching of supply and demand and information push, and eliminate the information asymmetry between the supply and demand sides of the results.
The second is to explore and improve the evaluation mechanism of scientific and technological achievements. Improve the market-oriented evaluation mechanism, clarify and correct the outdated concepts that only articles, awards, hats, and professional titles do not fully conform to the law of the value of scientific and technological achievements in the evaluation of scientific and technological achievements in the past [20], guide and encourage professional institutions to develop theories and methods for the classification and phased value evaluation of scientific and technological achievements, standardize third-party evaluation, accurately screen high-quality achievements that can be transformed, explore evaluation mechanisms oriented by the value and contribution of achievements, and build an objective and authoritative multiple evaluation system.
6. Conclusions and prospects
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, mainland universities and institutes have made fruitful achievements in scientific research, and scientific and technological progress has strongly supported economic and social development. For example, Tsinghua University, Zhejiang University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University and many other universities have made outstanding achievements in the transformation of scientific and technological achievements, and have formed an empirical model suitable for the mainland's national conditions. However, for a long time, the low conversion rate of scientific and technological achievements, and the asymmetry between scientific research funding investment and return to society need to be solved urgently. There is still a gap between the industrialization and commercialization capabilities of scientific and technological achievements of mainland universities and developed countries, which is embodied in institutional construction, system improvement, asset management,
Ancillary services, etc. The 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China has made it clear that education, science and technology, and talents will be arranged and deployed in an integrated manner. As the convergence point of education, science and technology, and talents, and the source of scientific and technological achievements, colleges and universities still need to further improve the quality of the supply of scientific and technological achievements, strengthen the construction of internal technology transfer institutions and the cultivation of talent teams, improve the statistical reporting system and performance evaluation and incentive mechanism for the transfer and transformation of scientific and technological achievements, establish a think tank for the transfer and transformation of scientific and technological achievements, strengthen the policy guarantee of linkage circulation of factor activation, and undertake the special mission of serving major national strategies, solving the problem of "stuck neck", and supporting high-quality social and economic development.
【Further Reading】
Jin Tongtong is the Department of Industry-University-Research Cooperation Research and Development of the Scientific Research and Development Center of Colleges and Universities of the Ministry of Education, with research interests in the cooperation between industry, university and research and the transfer and transformation of scientific and technological achievements and the cultivation of related talents. (The original article was published in the 7th issue of "Science and Technology of Chinese Universities" in 2023) Jin Tongtong Research and Development Center of Higher Education Institutions of the Ministry of Education Industry-University-Research Cooperation Research and Development Office @ State Information Center, China Economic Information Service, China Economic and Information Research Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences Research (Shandong) Science and Technology Transformation Co., Ltd. - News China, China News Gathering and Editing!
The current situation and efficiency improvement of the transformation of science and technology in colleges and universities Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Transformation of Scientific and Technological Achievements, Research of the National Academy of Sciences, Transformation of Scientific and Technological Achievements, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Organization and Research Center of the International Academy of Sciences, http://www.sino-managerw.cn/v.php?info_id=13557