The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), which has a budget of approximately $6.8 billion and encompasses 104 research institutes, is undergoing a restructuring. About half of its funds are provided by the government and are used for overhead costs and a portion of salaries, with the remaining funding from competitive government grants. The restructuring is proposed to strengthen China’s position in the sciences and to increase collaborations within CAS so that researchers focus on larger problems rather than many projects of lesser importance. As part of the restructuring, research will fall into four categories, with CAS scientists chosen to work together in each. The first category will be for establishing centers of excellence in basic science, such as brain science and particle physics. The second research category will be for areas, including drug development and microsatellites, that have commercial potential. Collaborations for large-scale facilities and supporting researchers in academia and industry will be the focus of the third category, and the fourth category will be for local development and sustainability. Another change will be that 30% of researchers’ salaries will be funded by competitive grants rather than the present level of 70%.

Source: Nature