Survey on status quo and development needs of research and innovation capabilities of young researchers at university-affiliated hospitals in China: a cross-sectional survey

BACKGROUND: Researches in China on the innovation ability and development needs of young scientific research talents is not enough. The survey is aimed to shed light on the status quo, problems, and development needs of research and innovation capabilities among young researchers in terms of orientation, innovation atmosphere, platform support, training mechanisms, and training measures. METHODS: From January to March 2022, a randomly-selected method was used to conduct a web-based self-made questionnaire survey on young talents in 6 university affiliated hospitals in 5 provinces in China. Intergroup comparisons were based on the chi-square test or Fisher’ exact test. RESULTS: Overall, 586 usable responses had been collected, including 233 from full-time researchers and 353 from part-time researchers. 182 (31.06%) researchers believe that they have the ability to master innovative theories, tools and methods, 136 (23.21%) researchers choose “working alone”. Compared with part-time research talents, the proportion of full-time research talents self-assessed as “very good” in scientific research innovation ability is higher (χ(2)=17.048, P<0.001). Full-time researchers had less knowledge about the relevant policies at their affiliation (χ(2)=3.190, P=0.074), were more likely to believe that the “talent management system” had a greater impact (χ(2)=4.906, P=0.027), and had higher expectations of “multiple incentive mechanisms” (χ(2)=10.312, P=0.001). In contrast, the proportion of part-time researchers who hoped that their affiliation would take measures such as “increasing financial investment” (χ(2)=9.049, P=0.003) and “strengthening external supports” (χ(2)=8.383, P=0.004) was significantly higher. CONCLUSIONS: Full-time and part-time scientific researchers have different requirements for capital investment, support for scientific research platforms, leadership demonstrations by senior peers, and a good atmosphere for scientific and technological innovation. Thus, it is important to promote innovation capacity-building among young researchers at university-affiliated hospitals (UAHs) by enhancing both talent training and introduction in a hierarchical, classified, multidimensional, and stepwise manner.