Dr Sijie Ren

I am researching the history of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) in the Mao era (1949-1976), the national scientific research institute in China, especially the synthetic insulin project (1958-1966), to explore the relationship between basic science and communist politics, and eventually the conditions for science to develop.

I will explore the conflicts and cooperation between politics and basic science in the Cold War context. I will investigate the motivation, methods, and effects of the Chinese state made on science, explore the fates of Chinese scientists and their research, and answer how basic science can succeed in a communist country by researching the biggest and most important scientific research institute, CAS, and its influential basic science research achievement, synthetic bovine insulin.

Politics and science are two dominant powers in the world, I hope I can use my study to show their interaction and contribute to the discussion about internal and external conditions of science to make progress.