By Lin Jiabin, Research Department of Social Development, DRC

Research Report Special Issue, No. 40, 2016 (Total 1515) 2016-8-25

Abstract: To implement the innovation-driven strategy, it is necessary to provide reasonable income and incentives for scientific research personnel (hereinafter referred to as researchers). At present, the proportion of the basic salary of researchers in public sectors is too low, and their main income comes from the research project funds. After the implementation of enforced management of scientific research fund projects, there pops up a sharp conflict between the goal of the management system and the actual function of the scientific research funds. The principle of reform is to establish a salary system with a higher salary level based on professional titles, years of service and official positions. According to the international experience and the current practice in China, the average income of researchers should be set between 2-2.5 times that of the average income level of the whole society. It is suggested that before the completion of the salary system reform, the current management way of scientific research funds by way of administrative expenses should be replaced by some makeshift measures during the transitional period. At the same time, we should face up to the fact that the researchers’ salary is bolstered by scientific research funds due to past conventional practice, and deal with the audit of scientific research funds and other financial expenditures in different manners.

Key words: public sectors, research personnel, salary, reform