Hard-line Project to Launch Next Year; Updates on Shanghai Sci-Tech Innovation Center

In the process of building the Shanghai Science and Technology Innovation Center, strengthening the origination function of scientific and technological innovation has always been a priority. Large-scale scientific facilities are powerful tools for promoting scientific and technological innovation and breaking through key core technologies.

The person in charge of the Shanghai Municipal Science and Technology Commission introduced to First Financial that Shanghai has built 11 major scientific and technological infrastructures, is building 4, and planning to build 5, with a total investment scale of about 35 billion yuan, leading the country in both the number of facilities and the amount of investment.

On October 23, the 2023 Shanghai Science and Technology Award was announced, with 46 achievements winning the Shanghai Natural Science Award, 29 achievements winning the Shanghai Technological Invention Award, and 114 achievements winning the Shanghai Science and Technology Progress Award. Although the total number of awards is less than last year, the difficulty of selection and the gold content have increased. For example, the proportion of this year's Natural Science Award (46) has reached 23%, far higher than the average of 15% in the previous five years, and many of these achievements have been used in these large-scale scientific facilities that have been built.

Advertisement

Now, the construction of the Shanghai Science and Technology Innovation Center is centered around the "strengthening the origination function of scientific and technological innovation" and is accelerating towards "strong functions". What are the key layouts for the future?

Large-scale scientific facilities support the construction of the Science and Technology Innovation Center

The hard X-ray free-electron laser facility (hereinafter referred to as the "hard line project") located in the core area of the Shanghai Science and Technology Innovation Center has made the latest progress.

The person in charge of ShanghaiTech University introduced to First Financial that the other equipment of the injector section of the hard line project has been installed in the tunnel and is being integrated and debugged, with plans to start tuning in November; high-power couplers, superconducting cavities, and undulators have entered the mass production stage; the low-temperature factory at both ends of the linear accelerator has been built, which can provide 12 kilowatts of refrigeration in the 2 Kelvin (-271.15 degrees Celsius) temperature range, filling the domestic blank in the research and development of long-distance low-temperature pipelines.

Not far from the hard line project, there are also several large-scale scientific facilities such as the "Nautilus" Shanghai Light Source and the Protein Facility.

Shanghai has laid out and built a batch of major scientific and technological infrastructures such as the second phase of the Shanghai Light Source, the ultra-strong ultra-short laser experimental facility, the soft X-ray free-electron laser facility, the hard X-ray free-electron laser facility, the Protein Facility (Shanghai), the Translational Medicine Facility (Shanghai), the undersea scientific observation network, the high-efficiency and low-carbon gas turbine test facility, the magnetic-inertial confinement fusion energy project, the thorium-based molten salt pile research facility, and the deep-sea research facility. These are in response to frontier basic scientific issues in fields such as materials, life, quantum, and oceans, as well as strategic needs of key industries such as biomedicine, integrated circuits, materials, chemical industry, energy, and high-end equipment.

As a priority project in the "13th Five-Year Plan" for national major scientific and technological infrastructure construction, the legal entity of the hard line project is ShanghaiTech University, and the co-construction units are the Shanghai Advanced Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Shanghai Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The project started construction on April 27, 2018.Deputy Chief Process Engineer of the Hard X-ray Project, Ouyang Zhengrong, introduced to Yicai that the construction of the Hard X-ray Free Electron Laser facility is progressing smoothly, with plans to produce light next year. Once completed, it will become one of only three high-performance Hard X-ray Free Electron Laser facilities in the world over the next decade or so, forming a tripartite pattern in the field of photon science among the United States, Europe, and China.

Due to the higher brightness, shorter pulse structure, and better coherence of Hard X-ray Free Electron Lasers, the peak brightness of X-rays they can provide is a billion times higher than that of the third-generation synchrotron radiation light sources. Ouyang Zhengrong said that by using this world's most advanced X-ray light source, scientists can conduct unprecedented extreme explorations of the micro world, obtain ultra-high-resolution imaging in the fields of energy, environment, materials, physics and chemistry, life, and medicine, shoot "molecular movies" of ultra-fast processes, and perform dynamic structural analysis.

After its completion, the Hard X-ray Free Electron Laser facility will form a cluster of large scientific facilities along with existing facilities such as the Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility, National Protein Science Facility, Soft X-ray Free Electron Laser facility, and ultra-strong ultra-short laser facility. This will lay a solid foundation for the construction of a globally influential photon science center in Zhangjiang, Shanghai.

What are the next key layouts?

Not only have the large scientific facilities made many progresses, but the person in charge of the Shanghai Municipal Science and Technology Commission also introduced that currently, the strategic scientific and technological forces in Shanghai are accelerating construction, the organizational mechanism reform of basic research is smoothly advancing, the integration of technological innovation and industrial innovation is accelerating, the construction of a high-level talent highland has achieved new results, the pace of building a world-leading science and technology park in Zhangjiang High-tech Zone is accelerating, and the open innovation ecosystem is more competitive.

Data from the Shanghai Municipal Science and Technology Commission shows that in 2023, scientists in the city published 120 papers in the three major international top journals (Cell, Nature, and Science), including 4 cover articles (9 nationwide), further deepening the construction of the basic research pilot zone; the three-year action plan for the transformation of scientific and technological achievements was implemented, and the reform of result empowerment was piloted, with the city's technical contract transaction amount reaching 485.021 billion yuan in 2023, a historical high; three leading industry mother funds and future industry funds with a total scale of 100 billion yuan were established; regional innovation cooperation became closer, with three provinces and one city in the Yangtze River Delta signing a framework agreement to strengthen cooperation in basic research; and the construction of the first batch of 12 Yangtze River Delta innovation joint bodies was initiated.

The person in charge of the above-mentioned Science and Technology Commission introduced that next, the construction of the Shanghai Science and Innovation Center will focus on the core task of strengthening the innovation source function, focus on the strategic focus of developing new quality productive forces, accelerate the construction of a system and mechanism that supports comprehensive innovation, and accelerate the enhancement of scientific and technological strength and innovation capabilities.

It mainly includes 8 directions, focusing on cultivating and strengthening the main body of strategic scientific and technological forces, organizing and promoting high-risk, high-value basic research, making every effort to fight the battle of key core technologies, strengthening the layout of frontier science and technology and future industries, coordinating the integrated reform of education, science and technology, and talent system mechanisms, accelerating the construction of world-leading science and technology parks, building an open innovation network with global competitiveness, and deepening the reform of government science and technology management.

For example, deepen the construction of the "basic research pilot zone" to support scientists in conducting high-risk, high-value basic research. Continue to increase investment in basic research, accelerate the increase of the proportion of scientific and technological expenditure used for basic research, and improve the diversified investment mechanism.

Fully implement the new round of three leading industries "Shanghai Plan"; focus on strengthening the integrated circuit industry chain, accelerating the innovation and development of the biopharmaceutical industry chain, and actively building an artificial intelligence industry innovation ecosystem.In terms of talent, the mechanism for introducing and supporting high-level talents will be improved, providing coordinated support for "talent + project + industry"; the system for independently cultivating scientific and technological talents will be perfected, supporting young scientific and technological talents to take on major responsibilities and play the leading role.