Forth, normalize the performance management of university research projects,
gradually establish the project information publicity mechanism and performance-
based reward system.
Information transparency is the precondition of performance management. It’s
necessary to establish a third-party to regularly publish project-related information,
in order to force universities to self-regulate their projects, and improve their
management of research activities.
To university, it’s necessary to fully establish the regulation system on research
projects, and try to implement modern research fund management mechanism
featured by centralized organization, multi-level management, and clear account-
ability, and clarify the rights and responsibilities of related administrative offices
ranging fromfinance, personnel, asset (facilities), auditing, monitoring, and further
improve the mechanism of internal control and inspection (MOE 2012b).
Moreover, universities should gradually establish the publicity system of basic
items, performance, and misconducts, to accept the monitoring from the public.
Besides, university might also try to set up some performance evaluation teams with
respect to different disciplines, and implement effective reward system, which
rewards those good performers with more support in project application and
funding, and punishes those individuals or teams who apparently disobey the rules
(MOE2012c).
Fifth, set up a new research performance evaluation system directed by high-
level research outcomes, in order to provide motivation and guarantee for
researchers to conduct high-level research.
Universities should make full use of the orientation function of evaluations, and
correctly improve the researchers’motivation in conducting scientific research, and
reform the evaluation system, and implement the new system featured by classi-
fication evaluation and open evaluation (MOE2012d). Universities should set up
the evaluation system with orientation of high-level outputs (MOE 2012d).
Universities should encourage researchers to face the national needs, and make
greater contribution to the development of national science and technology.
Universities should establish and perfect the research performance archive, and use
it as the important reference of annual assessment of researchers and professional
promotion (MOE2012b).
The new policy of research grant management divides research funds into direct
funds and indirect funds. The budgeting of direct funds is made by principal
investigator of the research project according to the research features and actual
needs. Indirect funds go directly to the university and included in the university
financial management. Therefore, universities could set their own methods of
allocate indirect funds in their own context, to compensate the related costs or
performance expenses that are taken by university or departments and couldn’tbe
expended in direct funds. We suggest that for those universities with sufficient
funds, they shouldfirst make good use of indirect funds and then raise more match
funds, to increase the rewards to those researchers or research teams with higher
7.2 Policy Implications 301