China expands NSFC grants for early-career scientists, adding 12,000 projects

China's main research funder, the NSFC, will fund an extra 12,000 projects for its Young Scientists Fund this year, boosting the budget by about 3.6 billion yuan (US$531 million) and aiming to ease intense competition for entry-level researchers, though experts caution that the expansion may not fully resolve job security or tenure pressures.