STM publisher Elsevier, Netherlands, has announced that its Science & Technology division in China and Science News will jointly organise the first 'Attracting Academic Talent Summit' in Beijing on June 2, 2009, at the Beijing Rongjin International Hotel.
At a time when China has increased efforts to build high-level capacities in science and technology industry innovation, the increased competition for academic talent among universities is seen as a topic of growing importance for the nation. The 'One Thousand Talents Plan,' a national human resource programme launched in 2008 by the Chinese government, sought to attract back to China high level academics who have gone oversees to work or study. These international researchers are becoming a new force in Chinese universities and are needed resources in order to grow the nation's science and technology skills.
As China's economy is relatively strong in the current global downturn, many Chinese who are abroad view this as a good opportunity to go back to work there. For China, it is more important than ever to develop methods and tools to identify, select, evaluate and manage talent, in order to improve research performance and get the best return on investment (ROI), it has been noted.
The summit will be attended by Human Resources and Research Department Directors, scientists from the top 20 Chinese universities and research institutes, including Shanghai Jiaotong University, the Chinese University of Science & Technology, the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), and policy makers from the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Science and Technology.
