原因何在?諾貝爾科學獎,國人無法言說的痛
WHILE Japan was celebrating its 20th winner of the Nobel Prize in October, this time in medicine for stem cell research, China celebrated its first Nobel for literature won by a resident of the Chinese mainland, Mo Yan.
當日本10月份在慶祝其第20個諾貝爾獎時，這一次是幹細胞研究方面的醫學獎，中國迎來了第一位諾貝爾文學獎，由中國大陸居民莫言摘獲。But although Chinese living abroad have won Nobel Prizes in physics, chemistry and medicine, not one scientist working on the mainland has won or shared the award in physics, chemistry or medicine.
但儘管華僑華裔獲得過物理、化學和醫學方面的諾貝爾獎，但沒有一個在中國大陸工作的科學家摘得或共同贏得在物理、化學或醫學方面的該獎項。Experts said the reasons China doesn't hold a science Nobel are complicated. They include the exam-oriented education system, the network for scientific research and development, the evaluation system for scientists and their research, the way research grants are awarded, and the government's attitude toward scientific research.
專家說中國沒有諾貝爾科學獎的原因是複雜的。這包括應試教育體系、科學研究和發展的網絡、對科學家及其研究的評價體系、對科研的資助方式以及政府對科研的態度。
Pushing too hard
施壓過猛Dr Wang Mingwei, director of the Chinese National Compound Library, said China is in too big a hurry to demonstrate it has joined the international ranks of achievers in all fields and that it is bigger and better in everything.
王明偉博士，中國化合物樣品庫主任表示中國太急於證明它在各個領域的成就已經進入國際一流水準，且一切都更大更好。"Both the government and the public are pushing scientists too much and they are viewing international prizes like Nobel Prize as the only criteria to evaluate scientists and their work," Wang told Shanghai Daily.
“政府和公衆正對科學家施壓太多，他們把諾貝爾獎這樣的國際獎項作爲評估科學家及其工作的唯一的標準，”王告訴《上海日報》。"No Nobel winners set winning the Nobel Prize as the goal for their work," he said. "Their dedication, passion and interest in scientific research drives them to work hard and achieve the kind of results that are recognized by the Nobel Prize."
“沒有一個諾貝爾獎得主會把獲得諾貝爾獎作爲他們工作的目標，”他說。“他們在科研方面的奉獻精神、激情和興趣驅使他們努力工作，並取得了值得被諾貝爾獎嘉獎的成果。”Wang's opinion is shared by Oliver Smithies, a British-born American geneticist who shared the 2007 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with an American and Briton for development of gene targeting in mice.
王的觀點也受到奧利弗•史密斯的贊同，一個英國出生的美國遺傳學家，2007年與一個美國人和一個英國人因對老鼠“基因靶向”技術的發展研究而共同獲得諾貝爾生理學或醫學獎。Interest and devotion
興趣和奉獻At a recent talk with university students in Shanghai, Smithies, who is 87, said real interest and devotion to science are key to making important contributions. He emphasized the importance of personal interest and suggested science students find subjects that really interest them. "If your tutor doesn't like the project you like, change the tutor," he said.
在最近一次與上海的大學生交流後，87歲的史密斯說真正的興趣和對科學的奉獻精神是做出重要貢獻的關鍵所在。他強調了個人興趣的重要性，建議學科學的學生找到真正使他們感興趣的事物。“如果你的老師不喜歡你喜歡的課題，那就更換導師，”他說。Scientific research often involves creativity and inventions. Smithies said that when he couldn't find the kind of specific equipment he needed, he made his own - this was the case in the research that won the Nobel. He held up a pink container that he said was an infant's bathtub, which he had modified with wires and equipment from other lab apparatus. "Never make winning the Nobel Prize your goal," he said. "No Nobel Prize winners target the prize during their research. The only thing that all winners have in common are having fun and having confidence in their research."
科學研究往往需要創造和發明。史密斯說當他不能找到一種他需要的特定設備時，他就自創——這是在研究上獲得諾貝爾獎的一則案例。他舉起一個粉紅色的容器，他說這是嬰兒浴缸，就是他從其他實驗室設備調整線路和設備得到的。“決不能讓獲得諾貝爾獎成爲你的目標，”他說。“沒有諾貝爾獎得主會在研究中緊盯着這一獎項。所有獲獎者唯一的共同點是在他們的研究中獲得興趣和信心。”Xiong Bingqi, vice head of the 21st Century Education Research Institute, a non-profit organization featuring researches on education and public policy, said a reason for the lack of recognition in science today is the nature of China's education system.
熊丙奇，21世紀教育研究院副院長，一個涉及教育和公共政策研究方面的非營利組織，他說今天科學缺乏辨識度的原因在於中國教育系統的本質。"We teach students knowledge," he said. "But studies suggest knowledge-centered education can only have a very minor impact in a person's future life ... The education system doesn't value and nurture students imagination, creativity, observation and communications skills that can influence a whole life," Xiong said.
“我們教授學生知識，”他說。“但是研究表明以知識爲中心的教育只能對一個人的未來產生非常小的影響……教育系統沒有重視和培養影響學生一生的那些想像力、創造力、觀察力和溝通技巧，”熊說。China's education system is famously test oriented. The system and appraisal by tests kill students' personality, imagination and creativity and produce a lot of "exam-taking machines," he said.
衆所周知中國教育系統以應試爲中心。這一系統和測試評估體系扼殺了學生的個性、想象力和創造力，並將會產生大量的’考試機器’，”他說。Another major obstacle to genuine scientific innovation and achievement is bureaucracy, Xiong said. Many researchers lose research funding in an academic structure too often controlled by administrative bodies.
產生真正科學創新和成就的另一主要障礙是官僚主義，熊說。許多研究人員在通常由行政機關控制的學術結構中失去研究經費。Scientists who want to get funding often have to spend a lot of time socializing and interacting, attending conferences, writing papers as well as writing applications for projects, leaving them with little time for creative thinking, he said.
想獲得資金的科學家常常不得不花大量的時間來社交和互動、參加會議、寫論文以及爲項目編寫應用程序，幾乎使他們沒有時間進行創造性思考，他說。Research also tends to be utilitarian and pure research without relatively short-term returns and rewards isn't generally favored by institutions, funders or individual researchers.
研究也往往是功利的，沒有相對短期的回報和獎勵的純粹研究通常得不到機構、贊助者和個人研究者的青睞。Publish or perish
要麼發表成果，要麼淘汰出局University evaluation systems are also flawed because they appraise researchers by the number of papers they publish and the number of projects they complete, instead of genuine scientific achievement, Xiong said.
大學的評估系統也有缺陷，因爲他們以發表文章的數量和完成項目的數量來評價科研人員，而不是真正的科學成就，熊說。Plagiarism flourishes in quite a few universities because researchers are under great pressure to secure promotions.
剽竊在一些大學繁榮，因爲研究人員正承受着巨大壓力來保證獲得上升。China wants its scientists to win Nobels and pours money into key research programs in pursuit of the prize, but first of all it should create a fair and free environment for researchers to work without bureaucratic interruption or utilitarian considerations.
中國希望其科學家贏得諾貝爾獎，爲追逐這個獎而將資金注入到關鍵研究項目中，但首先它應該爲研究者創建一個沒有官僚阻礙或功利性考量的公平自由的環境。
