(PHOTO:VCG)

By Staff Reporters

The New Cornerstone Investigator program, one of the largest social funds for basic research led by a group of scientists and Tencent Holdings, has selected 46 scientists from 13 Chinese cities for its second round of funding, it was announced on Oct 30.

In 2022, Tencent announced it would invest 10 billion yuan in 10 years to support outstanding scientists to concentrate on basic research and achieve original innovation "from 0 to 1".

The program has two major fields: mathematics and physical sciences, and biological and biomedical sciences, and encourages interdisciplinary research.

The "New Cornerstone Researcher" funding category has two categories: the experimental category, which disburses 25 million RMB to each recipient for five years, and the theoretical category, allocating 15 million RMB per person for five years. In January 2023, 58 distinguished scientists became the first batch of New Cornerstone fellows.

China's private enterprises are expected to play a bigger role in driving the basic research of original innovations to help the country gain more scientific breakthroughs and a global foothold amid rising technological competition, industry experts and company executives said on Oct 30.

"In the next 10 to 20 years, China is moving from quantity to quality in its tech development. The 'New Cornerstone Researchers' program focuses on original innovation and aims to make (the) most of private funding's flexibility, supplementing government support for fundamental research," Tencent vice president Chen Juhong said.