China offers 15-year research grants to the world’s brightest young scientists

China is offering the world’s brightest young scientists generous 15-year research grants for free exploration, as the country accelerates its drive to become a global science powerhouse.Dou Xiankang, director of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), the country’s top funder of basic research, told a recent academic forum that the agency was selecting a group of the brightest researchers under 35 for long-term financial backing.Once this group of exceptionally brilliant young people was identified, their sole performance metric over a 15-year period would be “whether they are in the laboratory”, Dou said on September 19.He said there would be no short-term performance reviews during this period. Those selected would be assessed on only one criterion: physical presence in the lab.