Instruments: The Soft Rises of Chinese Research

The importance of the instrument to scientific research is self-evident. It can be said that the development of scientific research is driven by the instrument to a certain extent. However, the instrument is a shortcoming that restricts the development of scientific research in our country. Foreign instruments have entered the country with great difficulty. At the 14th Scientific Instruments Exhibition in Beijing that was recently concluded, the number of foreign exhibitors was about 1/3 in terms of scale, and the area of ​​exhibition booths was about 1/2. From the perspective of species, there was no atomic absorption spectroscopy or X-ray diffraction. Instruments and other large instruments, there are thermostats, samplers and other small instruments, from the quality point of view of domestic instruments only from the appearance of a certain gap with foreign countries. In the actual scientific research activities, taking the instruments required for nuclear physics research, for example, high-purity germanium detectors, semiconductor detectors, dose monitors, nuclear electronics modules, energy spectrometers, oscilloscopes, precision high-voltage power supplies, etc. Occupying an overwhelming advantage, the scale of domestic manufacturers has continued to shrink, the market share is getting smaller and smaller, and even directly closed down. 2. Prioritizing foreign instruments has become a habit of researchers. Chinese research as a whole is not bad. Under such circumstances, taking into account the fact that many domestic instruments are inexpensive but of low quality, procurement from abroad has become a priority and implementation. China’s scientific research activities have supported foreign instrument manufacturers to some extent. If we can count the percentage of overseas instruments purchased each year in the purchasing instruments for the year, we can clearly see the difference in instrumentation.

Whether China's scientific research can be built on the basis of relying mainly on foreign instruments may seem to meet the needs of domestic scientific research in the short term, but long-term foreign instruments are by no means the backbone of China’s scientific research across the country. The reasons are as follows: The major instrument producing countries in the world are the United States, Japan, the European Union, and Russia. Some high-precision instruments in China restrict imports from China; frontier scientific research requires non-standard instruments customized by instrument manufacturers, and they rely on the procurement of mature products. Research, some research can only be followed by foreign ass; the international situation is complex and changeable, and now can be purchased, not necessarily in the future can also be purchased. Therefore, the instrument must consider self-reliance, not vigorously develop the instrument, the instrument will become the soft underbelly of China's scientific research development. Scientifically strong countries must also be instrumental powers. This is the case in the United States, Japan, and Germany. Conversely, it is difficult for an instrumental power to become a powerful scientific research country. Even if your scientific research is large, it is actually a castle built on the beach.