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By Liu Yu Correspondent Wang Chun

At the 33rd meeting of the Standing Committee of the Shanghai Fourteenth National People's Congress in November, the "Shanghai Regulations on Promoting the Transformation of Scientific and Technological Achievements (Draft)" (hereinafter referred to as the "Regulations"), which was extensively researched and considered, was passed. "The Last Mile".

The transformation of scientific and technological achievements is the "big problem" in China. In the whole transformation chain, as the supplier of technology, universities, research institutes and state-owned enterprises are tightly bound by the tenacious "rope" of the institutional mechanism. To "untie" the system is the urgent problem in the process of transformation of the results.

Unbundling of responsibilities to reduce conversion risk

It's the system that cements, but it's the heart that binds.

The problem of the loss of state assets is the first obstacle to the transfer of results. Unlike tangible assets, technology itself, as an intangible asset, is difficult to value. If there is demand from enterprises, the value of the technology cannot be measured; if there is no demand, the technology may not be worth anything. If the value of a transferred technology changes after a few years, the conversion unit will be questioned for improperly disposing of state assets, and may even be sold at a low price.

Better not to convert than to be chased. How dare you "sell"?

Price investment is one of the important ways to implement the transformation of scientific and technological achievements. However, in practice, there are ambiguities in whose name and how to carry out quotation investment in universities and institutes. The special research found a series of restrictive issues. For example, the 2015 revision of the Law on the Promotion of the Transformation of Scientific and Technological Achievements stipulates that research and development institutions established by the state and universities can independently decide to transfer, license or make quid pro quo investments in the scientific and technological achievements held by them, and extract no less than 50% from the proportion of shares or contributions formed by the results to the completion team. According to the document issued by the Ministry of Education in 2005, universities are not allowed to act directly as the subject of investment, but rely on university asset operation companies to invest, and cannot directly reward shares to the team according to the Results Transformation Law.

Policy "fight", how to "sell"

As the first university "to eat crabs", in order to promote the transformation of THz scientific and technological achievements, Shanghai Institute of Technology (SUSTech) with great boldness set up "Shanghai SUSTech Terahertz Technology Co. 3.21 million of the appraised intangible assets, $3.21 million in cash, and 80% of the intangible assets were awarded to the research frontline team.

The investment is made for a price, first cast and then divided, and Shanghai Polytechnic is bold enough to try it out, although it has achieved a series of results, but it is always dancing on the knife's edge.

The Regulations propose the establishment of a system of diligence and due diligence, that is, the relevant person in charge of the conversion work in accordance with the laws and regulations and the rules and regulations of the unit, and does not create decision-making responsibilities due to changes in the subsequent value of the transformation of scientific and technological achievements.

"Compared to the exemption from liability, not incurring liability is more relaxing to the unit managers." Relevant personnel of the Shanghai Science and Technology Commission's Body Reform Regulation Division stressed.

In addition, the Regulations "to refine and clarify the college and university institutes can independently choose the three kinds of investment methods: first, college and university institutes are allowed to directly invest in scientific and technological achievements in their own name; second, college and university institutes are allowed to set up wholly owned legal persons responsible for asset management to carry out investment in scientific and technological achievements; third, college and university institutes and scientific and technological personnel in advance to make an agreement on the distribution of shares, directly in the name of the unit and related personnel. Consideration of investment.

Clarify the accountability mechanism and the way to invest in price, and let the skeptical units venture to try and promote those that have already made a breakthrough.

From adventurous exploration to having a method to find, David Zhang, Director of the Science and Technology Division at SUSTech, lamented, "It's like a reassurance pill!"

Decentralization for transformative energy

Transformation of results, afraid to "sell"? It can be encouraged. Can't "sell"? It can be directed. What if you don't want to "sell"?

On the one hand, because of the guarantee of research funding from the state, universities and research institutes do not have the demand for economic benefits from the transformation of results, and under the evaluation system of "thesis is big", it is difficult for researchers to be active.

On the other hand, state assets are strictly regulated. When implementing the conversion income incentive, the unit has no autonomy and requires layers of approval from the immediate department. Because of the difficulty in assessing the value of the technology, is the incentive range reasonable? Directly under the department can not be defined, it is difficult to approve in a timely manner. The difficulty of approval and rewards causes the whole transformation chain to run poorly and inhibits the motivation of researchers to transform their achievements.

In this regard, the Regulations clarify the autonomy of the units that transform results, and improve the system for distributing the proceeds from the transformation of results. The right to decide on the mode of reward and the share of reward is delegated to the unit, and the principle of "agreed priority" is established through negotiation, with the criteria for reward being stipulated by the staff congress or agreed between the unit and the individual, while guidelines are provided for the agreed or stipulated criteria for universities and institutes of higher education. In addition, the Regulations provide for a number of details, such as clarifying the calculation method of "net income = income - direct costs in the process of transformation" for the transformation of university institutes, allowing the award to be paid without restriction on the total amount of wages, clarifying the incentive methods for scientific and technical personnel in leadership positions, and addressing the obstacles to the transformation of achievements. Breakthroughs are made to maximize the motivation of researchers.

It is written in minute detail, but strikes directly at the heart. The promulgation of the regulations, for the mechanism system "unbundling", stimulate the transformation of the results of universities and research institutes vitality. The second generation of high-temperature superconducting materials developed by Shanghai Superconducting Company has reached the international advanced level, and the company and Shanghai Jiao Tong University jointly established the Institute of Superconductivity, using a new model to attract high-temperature superconducting experts and scholars around the world.

Building eco-systems and breaking through institutional "fishing nets"

How to solve the "long-standing problem" of transformation of scientific and technological achievements? Tracing the roots, find the key nodes of the system "fishing net"; Butcher, analyze the interests of various layers of subjects; Layers of layout, improve the results of the transformation of the ecological system.

The local regulations of the Regulations will strengthen the legal protection of science, technology and innovation activities and scientific and technological innovation achievements. However, in order to truly solve some problems and transform some achievements, it is not enough to have a "law" but also a "method".

The survey found that the transformation of results requires coordination in such aspects as foreign investment, equity awards, business registration, taxation, cadre management and the solution of some key issues; in practice, when touching the "deep water zone of reform" such as results pricing, profit distribution, decision exemption, and leaving the workplace to start a business, the lack of clear working guidelines and the lack of a clear and effective way to solve the problems. Some details are still highly controversial and inconsistent caliber, difficult to implement. Yan Mingfeng, CEO of the National Technology Transfer Eastern Center, is familiar with the whole process of the industry chain and is well versed in the pain points of the transformation of results, "The promotion and landing of the Regulations requires the introduction of specific operating rules for each university and department. Reconciling the interest mechanisms between various entities and promoting them in a collaborative manner requires a new type of organizational model, which is the most difficult to promote at every level."

On November 23rd, the "Seminar on Promoting the Transformation of Scientific and Technological Achievements by Leading Cadres" began, and the relevant departments in Shanghai have coordinated several times to remove a series of obstacles to the implementation of the Law on Promoting the Transformation of Scientific and Technological Achievements. In the "fill in the gaps", Shanghai science and technology departments are forming a public service platform for the transformation of scientific and technological achievements. In this regard, to undertake the national technology transfer eastern center, to create the transformation of scientific and technological achievements of the ecological system, not only vigorously training technology brokers, but also with experts from universities, technology intermediary service agencies, testing agencies, fund management companies, listed companies jointly issued 20 million yuan of "new materials seed fund" and other areas of the "new materials seed fund". The seed fund to guide the social capital to help universities and institutes of the results into real productivity, to achieve results, capital and the platform of the three-party win-win. Yan said the mission of the public service platform for the transformation of scientific and technological achievements is to "make the world without difficult to transform scientific and technological achievements.

(Source of the article: science and technology daily)