innovation”, and universities are at the center of innovations. University is the
primary source of knowledge creation and high quality scientific and technological
talents, and the science and technology innovation of universities are the under-
pinning of national science and technology innovation system. The economic
success of developed countries has very close relationship with their emphasis on
cultivation of talents and innovation of knowledge and technology in universities.
World-class research university has become the leader and supporter of scientific
and technological innovation and economic development in the developed
countries.
In recent years, the total amount and growth rate of Chinese R&D investment in
HEIs is running far ahead among most countries in the world, and the
world-ranking of Chinese universities’scientific outputs is also a rapid increase.
Referring to the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), which is also
known as Shanghai ranking, 32 universities in mainland China has entered
ARWU’s top 500. However, there still exists many critical issues in the develop-
ment of scientific research of Chinese universities. First, although the number of
Chinese papers in the Science Citation Index (SCI) was the second in the world in
2014, very few scientific research achievements can be recognized as original and
groundbreaking at the global level. Moreover, the average academic impact of
Chinese research does not match its exceptional growth in output, China lags
behind the world average in many subject areas in normalized citation impact
(Nature Publishing Group 2015 ). Second, China lacks a group of academic leading
scholars who hold international reputation and influence. Third, Chinese universi-
ties have little influence on the international higher education community, and the
international cooperation and exchange of most Chinese universities remains at a
relatively low level. Even those most prestigious universities like Peking University
and Tsinghua University, compared with those world-class universities such as
Harvard and Yale, are still a considerable gap in educating and cultivating
high-quality and innovative talents as well as knowledge and technology innovation
(“211 Project”Coordination Group Office 2007 ). Therefore, the world-renowned
scientist QIAN Xuesen pointed out a serious question—Why couldn’t our
(Chinese) schools bring up distinguished talents? This so-called“QIAN Xuesen
question”triggered heated discussions and profound thinking among all aspects of
societies. In today’s China where higher education have entered massification, why
is it still so difficult for China to cultivate innovative talents and to make innovative
contributions to the humankind?
It is not exaggeration to say that China urgently need to carry on its transition in
research by taking greater reforms in funding, doing and sharing science (Nature
Publishing Group 2015 ), and improve its international competitiveness and influ-
ence through building up a group of world-class universities and disciplines, if
China wants to transform itself into an innovative nation, and smoothly achieve the
upgrade of industry structure and transition of economic growth pattern. In 1995,
approved by the Chinese State Council,“211 Project”was launched formally. The
mission of“211 Project”is to invest in 100 universities and develop a number of
key disciplines across China, in order to face the challenge of 21st century. This
2 1 Introduction