project is the largest scale and highest level in thefield of higher education
sponsored by the central government ever since the establishment of P.R. China. It
is also a major measure to implement the development strategy of“revitalizing the
country through science and education”, and a great decision with profound impact
aiming for developing higher education under the complicated domestic and
international situation at the turn of the century. The implementation of“ 211
Project”caused enormous response both at home and abroad, and tremendously
contributed to the construction of building up some world-class universities and a
group of world-class disciplines, promoting a great development in Chinese higher
education. Through spending ten years in the construction, universities funded by
“211 Project”, namely the 211Us, were improved substantially in the aspects of
infrastructure, cultivation of talents, scientific research, disciplinary strength, and
the gaps with world-class universities were gradually narrowed down (“ 211
Project”Coordination Group Office 2007 ). In this book, we’re trying to look deep
into the research production status and trends of 211Us from the views of input and
output, aiming to provide some references for the reform of higher education
research management in the future.
1.1.2 Inputs and Outputs in 211Us.......................
“211 Project”is the landmark of Chinese higher education history since the
establishment of P.R. China, and has enormous impact on the higher education
development and even the social and economic progress of this nation. 211Us have
been playing an extremely important role in accomplishing national research mis-
sions and producing high-level research output.
Under the support of“211 Project”, the total R&D investment into 211Us was
substantially increased. During the Ninth Five-year Plan, R&D investment was
101.982 billion RMB, which was 8.3 times of the Eighth Five-year Plan
(12.272 billion). During 1995–2005, combined with the key discipline program,
211Us fulfilled their full potential and took a large group of national research
programs funded by“973 Project”,“863 Project”, National Science Foundation
(NSF), and many other national defense and military projects, which made them-
selves an extraordinarily strong force in Chinese research. For instance, 211Us were
granted 29,197 programs from NSF, accounting for 57% of the national total, and
75% of the university subtotal. During 1995–2005, 565 national research awards
were awarded to 211Us, accounting for 36% of national total and 73% of the
university subtotal. The publications in SCI, SSCI, EI and ISTP in 211Us were
increasing year by year (Table1.1), manifesting that the research strength and level
of 211Us, which were the representative of Chinese higher education institutions,
was rising up significantly in the international academic community (“211 Project”
Coordination Group Office 2007 ).
1.1 Research Background 3