Slashdot Mirror
China Expands Research Funding, Luring US Scientists and Students (npr.org)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from NPR: In the past decade or so, China has been expanding its commitment to scientific research, and it shows. Chinese researchers now produce more scientific publications than U.S. scientists do, and the global ratings of Chinese universities are rising. Five years ago [professor of chemistry at the University of California, San Diego, JaySiegel] became dean of the school of pharmaceutical science and technology at Tianjin University. He says the university president recruited him to build an undergraduate program that would attract students from all over -- not just China. Siegel says the program is taught entirely in English. There's another aspect of getting a pharmaceutical science degree at Tianjin that Siegel expects students from throughout the world to find particularly attractive: The Chinese government plans to offer scholarships to cover the cost for students who enroll. Siegel says this is all part of China's effort to attract international scientists. Of course, there are some drawbacks with working in China. There are internet restrictions, making it difficult to reach certain websites; English isn't spoken throughout most of the country, posing a problem for many foreign visitors; and free speech isn't the same concept as it is in the United States. With that said, "There's no interference politically on the science," says Greg Herczeg, an astronomer at the Kavli Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics at Peking University.
"We've had no political restrictions," says Siegel. "I know that people talk about them being out there, and I've heard rumors of things. But, for us personally, I would have to say no, I've not had that experience."
"We've had no political restrictions," says Siegel. "I know that people talk about them being out there, and I've heard rumors of things. But, for us personally, I would have to say no, I've not had that experience."
I bet the chances are lower than being shot in the US by some whacko. If you are measuring risk for risk's sake, one cannot say China is less safe.
Table-ized A.I.
Chinese pronunciation is the only weird thing about the language. Otherwise, there are no irregular verbs mainly because verbs aren't conjugated in the first place. There's no gender assignment to any words like in French or Spanish. The sentence order is like basic English structure: subject - verb - object.
If you go live there full time it's fairly easy to learn to speak.
There is corruption in China, for sure, though there have been attempts to rein it in in recent years. Also, I agree there is plenty of questionable science coming from Chinese institutions, though I suspect there is at least as much coming from Western start-ups looking for funding.
With all the issues, China should not be underestimated. A country does not achieve sustained rapid growth and improvement in living standards over 30 years without doing a lot right. Those at the highest levels of government have made good decisions more often than in most of its competitors.
China actually scares me, partly because of its success. They believe they should again be the dominant force in Asia as they were centuries ago. Increasingly, they are going to be in a position to seize what they believe they are entitled to. That is not good for other countries in the region.