Establishing and Practicing the Correct Outlook on Political Achievement | Diving Deep at the Source of Science, Cultivating the Fertile Soil of Innovation

The Academy of Military Medical Sciences under the Academy of Military Sciences Strengthens Basic Research Through the Correct Outlook on Political Achievement (正确政绩观): Diving Deep at the Source of Science, Cultivating the Fertile Soil of Innovation

Editor's Note: Chairman Xi has pointed out that basic research is the source of the entire scientific system and the master switch for all technological problems. We must strengthen basic research with greater force and more substantive measures, enhance our country's capacity for original innovation, and further consolidate the foundation for building a science and technology powerhouse. In recent years, the Academy of Military Medical Sciences under the Academy of Military Sciences has established and practiced the correct outlook on political achievement (正确政绩观). By building and improving institutional mechanisms, increasing investment in basic research, and guiding scientific researchers to overcome the tendency toward seeking quick results and instant benefits (急功近利), and with the perseverance and resolve of "willingly sitting on the cold bench for ten years" (板凳甘坐十年冷), researchers have devoted themselves wholeheartedly to basic research. This has resulted in breakthroughs in multiple frontier research topics and has powerfully driven the high-quality conversion and application of military medical research achievements.

PLA Daily Report by Wang Di and reporter Jia Qilong: "If it were not for the institute party committee's long-term emphasis on basic research, I could not have achieved what I have today." Not long ago, a key research project led by the director of a certain laboratory at the Academy of Military Medical Sciences under the Academy of Military Sciences successfully passed its phased review after five years of sustained effort. This is a microcosm of the institute's work to establish and practice the correct outlook on political achievement (正确政绩观), guiding researchers to abandon the mindset of seeking quick results and instant benefits (急功近利) and to devote themselves to basic research.

For a long period in the past, influenced by factors such as assessment and evaluation mechanisms, some researchers at the institute tended to choose projects with short cycles and quick results, while paying insufficient attention to basic research with long cycles and slow results. "The mission of military medical research is to serve combat effectiveness. Without solid basic research as a foundation, practical application becomes water without a source and a tree without roots." The institute's leadership told the reporter that the institute party committee clearly put forward the position of "correcting the outlook on political achievement to serve combat readiness and warfighting, and focusing the center of gravity of scientific research on basic research." Starting from institutional mechanisms, they revised and improved the scientific research performance evaluation methods, making clear that basic research projects would no longer be judged simply by the number of papers or project funding, but would instead focus on assessing originality, forward-looking vision, and potential contribution to the generation of combat effectiveness. They established a mechanism giving priority investment to basic research, with focused support for emerging interdisciplinary topics closely related to the future battlefield, set up special funds, and provided stable funding over multiple years to relieve researchers of concerns about the future.

Researcher Li, who specializes in biomedicine and antiviral immunity, had not published a single paper in several years. "In the past, I would have been unable to sit still long ago," Researcher Li explained. The institute party committee established the orientation of scientific research serving warfighting (科研为战), not using short-term results as the measuring standard, which gave him a "reassurance pill" (定心丸). After long-term research and repeated experimentation, the pathogen rapid identification and intelligent classification system led by him achieved progress.

A certain biotechnology had long been subject to blockade and could not be introduced from abroad. The institute party committee, with an eye toward national strategic needs, assembled a multidisciplinary team and, with the spirit of "sharpening a sword for ten years" (十年磨一剑), pooled their wisdom for a concentrated assault and achieved a major breakthrough. "Core technology cannot be bought or begged for; it must rely on self-reliance and self-strengthening, diving deep at the source of science and cultivating the fertile soil of innovation," the institute leadership said. Conducting scientific research certainly requires the spirit of hammering nails—striking one blow after another—but choosing where to hammer is equally important. Over the years, they have laid out a number of basic research projects in more than ten key fields including biomedicine, planting "seeds" for independent innovation in frontier military medical technology.

In scientific research and innovation, talent comes first. Upon learning that a young researcher in a certain laboratory had conceived the idea of using artificial intelligence to assist toxicological analysis, the institute leadership gave strong support. After achieving major results, this researcher was entrusted with important responsibilities and was promoted to researcher rank through an exception to normal procedures (破格晋升). The reporter learned that, in order to encourage young researchers to devote themselves to basic research, the institute implements stratified and categorized evaluation of talent (人才分层分类评价) and the "three priorities" (三优先) of mentorship, project approval, and funding guarantee, with policy preferences in professional title assessment, position promotion, and other areas. At the same time, a mechanism for sustained support of basic research was established to ensure that major basic research continues "from one cohort to the next" (一茬接着一茬干) without interruption due to personnel changes. In recent years, a cohort of young research backbones at the institute has emerged in the field of basic research, becoming a new force in military medical innovation.

The more upright the outlook on political achievement (政绩观), the purer the scientific research ecosystem. Today, on the front lines of research at the institute, what people discuss more is "which research direction may achieve an original breakthrough" and "which topic is more valuable for advancing the improvement of troop combat effectiveness." Nurtured by their painstaking efforts, a number of basic research topics at the institute focused on the frontier and aimed at the future continue to advance, and multiple major achievements have been converted and applied to troop training and combat readiness practice, injecting powerful momentum into the innovative development of our military's military medicine.