Chinese Academy of Sciences Launches Frontier Research Initiative

The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has formally launched an initiative targeting extreme frontiers in basic scientific research. Announcing its first batch of 10 projects, the program focuses on challenging domains such as the synthesis of new elements, the nature of dark matter and dark energy, microscopic measurements of chemical bonds, and artificial synthetic cells. Accompanied by policy reforms, CAS plans to reduce interim process interventions and eliminate reliance solely on papers and short-term metrics, institutionalizing tolerance for research setbacks while leveraging large-scale scientific infrastructure and artificial intelligence.

The program represents an operational shift within China's premier scientific institution to move away from rigid evaluation systems that prioritize fast publishing over foundational discovery. By committing to institutionalized tolerance for failure and coupling high-risk frontier questions with state computing and shared laboratory infrastructure, CAS seeks to foster groundbreaking original research rather than incremental advancements.

The Chinese Academy of Sciences announced the launch of its "Scientific Frontier Limit Breakthrough Plan" during a press conference in Beijing, initiating its first batch of 10 long-term research projects. According to coverage by Xinhua and People's Daily, the program focuses on high-risk, boundary-pushing research across four extreme scientific domains. The initial slate of 10 projects targets deep foundational problems, including the synthesis of new chemical elements, probing the nature of dark matter and dark energy, the microscopic measurement of chemical bonds, and the engineering of artificial synthetic cells. Alongside these projects, CAS released a shortlist of future priority areas, spanning physical sciences, life sciences, Earth system science, and space science, aimed at producing original discoveries in fields critical to national development. Zhou Qi, Vice President of CAS, stated at the briefing that the initiative aims to drive changes in research paradigms and open up new scientific directions. Zhou emphasized that the academy will organize structured scientific攻关 (breakthrough efforts) by opening and linking national major science and technology infrastructure facilities and leveraging artificial intelligence platforms to enable fundamental discoveries. Critically, the plan introduces structural reforms to how scientific research is evaluated and managed. Officials from the CAS Bureau of Basic Research noted that the initiative will pilot an evaluation model tailored to high-uncertainty research. This framework intends to reduce preset targets, minimize mid-course process interference, and move away from assessing work solely by publication volume or short-term results, putting genuine tolerance for failure into practice. CAS also plans to invite participation from top researchers both within China and internationally. Scientists are encouraged to use platforms such as the Xiangshan Science Conferences to identify core scientific problems. Selected teams will receive backing through strategic priority research programs and funding schemes for young research teams, allowing them to draw on national major scientific instruments and shared AI networks.