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A Case Study of a World-Class Research Project Accomplished in China Lessons for China's Science Policy

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A Case Study of a World-Class Research Project Accomplished in China Lessons for China's Science Policy Zhzh SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND PUBLIC POLICY PROGRAM A Case Study of a World-Class Research Project Accomplished in China Lessons for China's Science Policy Junling Huang Dongbo Shi Lan Xue Venkatesh Narayanamurti DISCUSSION PAPER 2017-02 FEBRUARY 2017 Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs Harvard Kennedy School 79 JFK Street Cambridge, MA 02138 www.belfercenter.org/STPP Belfer Center Discussion Paper 2017-02 Statements and views expressed in this report are solely those of the authors and do not imply endorsement by Harvard University, the Harvard Kennedy School, or the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. Design & Layout by Andrew Facini Cover photo: A view of the Institute of Physics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing's Haidian District, September 29, 2016. Copyright DigitalGlobe, used with permission. Copyright 2017, President and Fellows of Harvard College Printed in the United States of America SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND PUBLIC POLICY PROGRAM A Case Study of a World-Class Research Project Accomplished in China Lessons for China's Science Policy Junling Huang 1, 2 Dongbo Shi 1, 3, 4 Lan Xue 3 Venkatesh Narayanamurti 1, 2, * 1 Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA. 2 John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA. 3 School of Public Policy and Management, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, PR China. 4 School of International and Public Affairs, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240, PR China * Corresponding author. DISCUSSION PAPER 2017-02 FEBRUARY 2017 Acknowledgments Junling Huang and V. Narayanamurti would like to acknowledge the financial support of the Hui fund administered by the Ash Center at the Harvard Kennedy School. Dongbo Shi would like to acknowledge the support of the China Scholarship Council which allowed him to spend time at the Belfer Center to begin the collaboration. Lan Xue would like to acknowledge the support of Center for Innovation Governance at Tsinghua University. We would also like to thank Prof. Qikun Xue for his hospitality during visits to Tsinghua and access to his laboratory and students in the Department of Physics at Tsinghua. Abstract It has long been a great Chinese ambition to have a high impact top- level scientific research conducted in domestic China. In this paper, we provide a case study of the recent discovery of the Quantum Anomalous Hall Effect by the group led by Prof. Qikun Xue at Tsinghua University. We analyze the entire experimental discovery process, explore the research culture developed in this condensed matter and materials physics research group, examine China’s funding environment and investigate the functioning of this multi-group- collaboration. Lessons from this case study will shed lights on how to foster high impact world-class research institutions in China. Keywords science policy, invention, discovery, research institute, world-class research, China Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................. v 1. Introduction .................................................................. 1 2. Background ..................................................................2 2.1 Condensed Matter and Materials Physics ..................... 2 2.2 The Hall Effect Family ..................................................... 2 2.3 Prof. Xue’s Early Career ..................................................4 3. Method ........................................................................ 4 4. How is the discovery of QAHE unfolded ...................5 4.1 The personnel................................................................... 5 4.2 The main instruments in Prof. Xue’s Lab .......................6 4.3 Project funding for Prof. Xue ..........................................8 4.4 Identifying the project ....................................................8 4.5 How the project is completed ........................................9 4.6 The future collaboration ............................................... 12 5. The Lessons Learned ...............................................13 5.1 China’s Gross Domestic Spending on R&D ................. 13 5.2 Flexibility in Adjusting Funding Usage ........................ 13 5.3 Risk Mitigation Mechanism ......................................... 14 5.4 Leadership and Collaboration ...................................... 15 6. Discussion ..................................................................16 Notes ................................................................................................17 A view of the Institute of Physics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing's Haidian District, September 29, 2016. Copyright DigitalGlobe, used with permission. 1. Introduction Over the past three decades, China has enjoyed a very impressive economic development period. Yet, it has been debated by many that China will not be able to continue its success with an economic model which relies heavily on government investment in infrastructure and exports of labor-intensive goods [1]. To move China’s economy to a higher level, the Chinese leadership has for some time recognized the importance of technological innovation and scientific research to achieve parity with advanced economies on a sustainable base. The Chinese leadership has also recognized the need for the development of world class research-intensive universities and the need for under- taking massive reform of its science and technology system [2, 3]. As part of a larger project to understand the evolution of the lead- ing Chinese universities, we have initially focused our attention on a case study of a significant recent scientific discovery — Quan- tum Anomalous Hall Effect (QAHE) — by a multi-institutions research effort led by Prof. Qikun Xue at Tsinghua University. The discovery of the QAHE represents a significant scientific breakthrough in the field of condensed matter and materials physics, one of the largest sub-fields of physics which explores the macroscopic and microscopic properties of matter [4, 5]. Does Prof. Xue’s story suggest that China’s science and technol- ogy community has recovered from the Cultural Revolution? Will China’s science and technology community become a solid com- petitor with other developed countries, such as the United States, in the near future, e.g., 2030? Is China going to make a success- ful transition from a world factory of labor-intensive-goods to a world factory of innovative ideas? In this paper, we analyze the QAHE discovery process, discover the emerging research culture in China, and explore how an effective research leader can mobi- lize all kinds of resources to work together toward one common goal. This case study of QAHE will provide valuable clues to these large questions. Important lessons could also be drawn to provide practical and constructive guidance for China’s science policy. Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs | Harvard Kennedy School 1 2. Background In this section, we provide the background informa- tion of the QAHE and of the early career of Prof. Xue. 2.1 Condensed Matter and Materials Physics In the modern condensed matter and materials physics, scientists study the phenomena which arise from a large number of interacting atoms and electrons, reflecting the collective behavior of the assemblage. Novel phenomena are often observed through studies of new artifi- cially structured materials and new experimental tools, which also push the boundaries of theoretical understanding, as shown in Fig.1. Since the birth of the transistor in 1947 at Bell Labs, the field of condensed matter and materials physics has spawned many Nobel Prizes in the physical sciences and has created a technological revolution [6-9]. Figure 1. Schematic illustration of the key ingredients in advancing condensed matter and materials physics The discovery of QAHE in thin films of chromium-doped (Bi,S- b)2Te 3 provides another classic example demonstrating how a lab-created new material can make a significant contribution to the condensed matter physics field [10]. Theoretical studies contributed by other groups also provided the essential stimulus for fabricating the growth of highly perfect layered materials which in turn requires the state-of-the-art diagnostic experimental instruments. 2.2 The Hall Effect Family The ordinary Hall effect discovered by American physicist Edwin R. Hall in 1879 was a phenomenon in which the voltage drops across a conductor transverse to the applied electrical current in the conductor A Case Study of a World-Class Research Project Accomplished in China:: 2 Lessons for China's Science Policy with a magnetic field perpendicular to the current. Edwin Hall tried similar experiments on ferromagnetic materials and observed that the Hall resistance shows an unusually large slope at a low field, and this phenomenon became known as the anomalous Hall effect. In 1980, about 100 years after Hall’s discovery, German physicist Klaus von Klitzing observed the steps in the Hall voltage-vs-current in a two dimensional Si/SiO2 field effect transistor in a strong magnetic field [11, 12]. These steps which showed quantization of the Hall conductance was a major scientific discovery and led to the Nobel Prize in Physics 1985 [13]. Klaus von Klitzing’s discovery led to intensive
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