To advance applications for the 2027 National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), improve proposal quality and success rates, and strengthen basic research and discipline building, the Rare Earth Technology Excellence and Innovation Center (Rare Earth and Manufacturing Division) recently held a kick-off meeting to map out its 2027 application work. Academic Vice President Li Chaozhong, leaders from the research office and the division, and faculty representatives intending to apply attended.
Li gave the mobilization address. He acknowledged the center’s record in NSFC applications and stressed that the fund is a key lever for discipline building, research innovation and talent cultivation. He urged faculty to focus on frontier directions, distill key scientific questions, pursue organized research, strengthen teamwork, plan early and polish proposals meticulously, aiming for steady gains in both the number and quality of applications.
Wen Shujie, deputy director of the Research Office’s Natural Science (Major Tasks) Center, reviewed historical application and funding data. He analyzed the application landscape, funding patterns and weaknesses, compared peer disciplines, and clarified review priorities and common pitfalls, offering data-driven and practical guidance on topic selection, strategy and risk avoidance.
Xiao Yanfei, deputy head of the Rare Earth and Manufacturing Division, Party branch secretary and executive dean of the School of Rare Earths, provided specialized coaching. He covered topic selection, content structure, technical routes, feature highlighting and standardized proposal writing, explained key points and common errors, and set out schedules for the next stage, proposal polishing and pre-review support. He urged faculty to start preparations early and improve overall quality.
Li Wei, deputy director of the center’s office (and the division office), presented a diagnostic analysis. Drawing on application type codes, project titles, applicants’ research backgrounds and comparisons with funded projects, he summarized six common reasons for rejection and conducted an initial risk screening of submitted proposals. The center and division will later establish a ledger linking review comments to corrective measures for unfunded projects, build a five-tier application cultivation system—individual, team, school, division and expert—and introduce eight support measures. Starting with a review of unfunded 2026 projects, they aim to turn a list of problems into a 2027 quality-improvement list.
The meeting helped build consensus, clarify tasks and reinforce responsibilities. Next, the center and division will continue full-cycle application guidance and multiple rounds of pre-review, strengthen core competitiveness in basic research, and support high-quality development of their research enterprise.
