China has unveiled two significant reports highlighting the research hotspots and emerging frontiers set to shape the scientific landscape in 2024.
On Wednesday, the Chinese mainland released the reports, which identify 125 research frontiers that have shown active performance or rapid development over the past year. These reports aim to provide insights into global scientific and technological trends, predict future key breakthroughs, and support national innovation efforts.
The two reports were jointly issued by the Institutes of Science and Development and the National Science Library, both under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, in collaboration with Clarivate. The first report, titled 2024 Research Fronts, is based on an extensive analysis of 13,318 research frontiers from the Essential Science Indicators database.
This report highlights 110 active or rapidly developing research hotspots and 15 emerging frontiers across 11 highly integrated disciplines. These disciplines include agricultural sciences, botany and zoology; ecology and environmental science; Earth science; clinical medicine; biological sciences; chemistry and materials science; physics; astronomy and astrophysics; mathematics; information science; and economics and psychology.
The second report, 2024 Research Fronts: Active Fields, Leading Countries\/Regions, evaluates the performance of various countries and regions, including the Chinese mainland, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and Japan.
According to the findings, the U.S. leads with 71 frontiers ranked first, accounting for 56.8 percent of the total 125 frontiers. The Chinese mainland ranks first in 39 frontiers, representing 31.2 percent of the total. The UK has four frontiers ranked first, while Germany and France each lead in one frontier.
“The reports show that AI-enabled scientific research, next-generation high-performance communications, future energy solutions, addressing climate change, and improving human health and well-being have become key areas of scientific exploration,” said Pan Jiaofeng, president of the Institutes of Science and Development.
These insights reflect the ongoing global emphasis on technological advancements and collaborative efforts to tackle some of the most pressing challenges facing humanity today.
Reference(s):
China issues reports on 2024 research hotspots and emerging frontiers
cgtn.com
