Prof. Jia Jianmin’s Research Project Received COVID-19 Response Fund from National Natural Science Foundation of China

The project, led by Jia Jianmin, Presidential Chair Professor of the School of Management and Economics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, received COVID-19 Response Fund from the committee of the National Natural Science Foundation of China. According to reports, only 1.07% of applications have been approved.

In the early days, Prof. Jia’s research project “The Investigation, Precaution and Response for Novel Infectious Diseases Based on the Big Data” was selected on the list of special funds for “Critical Preparedness, Readiness and Response Actions for COVID-19”, and has been established. The committee will subsidize 20 projects out of 1,869 to promote related researches regarding to the response, the governance, and the impact of public health emergency.

The Introduction of COVID-19 Project

COVID-19 outbreak is an unprecedented public health emergency, posing an enormous challenge to the medical health system and a huge shock to the economy and society of China. Therefore, focused on four aspects, including the response and control, governance mechanism, economic impact and policy, and social governance of public health emergency, the National Natural Science Foundation of China proposed 18 research topics. It aims to support the researchers who are equipped with relevant data and research basis and keep close cooperation with departments in the fight against the pandemic to conduct researches. The research outcomes will be applied to reveal scientific evidence and mechanisms behind facts and propose targeted theories and feasible measures, effective policies and suggestions. Through the first round of review procedures, including the review at early stage, first round of sorting, office meeting and experts’ review, experts jury chose 20 projects out of 1,869 in total by voting. The project fund is 10 million RMB Yuan with a one year duration. In addition, the projects that make remarkable breakthroughs during this one year may continuously receive funds.

Through the previous research, relevant data collection and the collaboration with the departments in the fight against the pandemic, the COVID-19 project will contribute to finding out the scientific evidence and mechanisms behind facts and proposing targeted theories and feasible measures, and effective policies and suggestions. It aims to prevail over the pandemic and maintain the stability of economy and society. Great attention to this project had been aroused from international organizations, such as Gates Foundation.

Public Risk Perception and Government Crisis Management

Prof. Jia Jianmin’s research areas include decision-making, consumer choice and big data marketing. In 2019, Prof. Jia won 2019 Fudan Prize for Eminent Contributions to Management Science.
In recent years, Professor Jia Jianmin used the research method which combining big data and empirical investigation to reveal people's risk response and communication behavior, constructing a psychological behavior prediction model in scenarios under crisis, and proposed policy recommendations to dealing with disaster such as SARS, earthquakes and haze.
As SARS outbreak contained worldwide in 2003, Prof. Jia began to study crisis management. His research questionnaires covering Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Chengdu presented that the high-risk perception and perceived threat of people come from uncertainties and uncontrollable factors of SARS. To relieve people’s concern, government and media need to educate public how the SARS spreads and how to avoid the infection, and meanwhile report news about SARS patients’ recovery and related medical research outcomes. The daily updates of SARS infected cases may make people panic, but this real feeling can reduce the negative impacts brought by uncertainties and erroneous reports and help the government win people’s confidence to a large extent. The reports of recovery rates and suspected cases, instead of direct reports of confirmed cases and death toll, should be published to reduce people’s psychological shock of SARS. In terms of this result, the government and media can make corresponding strategies and policies to reduce the perceived threat and pressure of the society and help people understand the danger of SARS, Prof. Jia said in an interview of The People’s Daily.

Prof. Jia Jianmin Led Expert Team to Study the Relationship Between Response to Coronavirus Outbreak and Sense of Happiness During Chinese New Year

In order to fully implement the decisions of the central government, the establishment, demonstration and election of the project of Critical Preparedness, Readiness and Response Actions for COVID-19 follows a strict standard, and its competition is intensely fierce. During this Chinese New Year, under the support of the Department of Management Sciences of the National Natural Science Foundation of China. Prof. Jia Jianmin led an expert team to study the relationship between the response to coronavirus outbreak and the sense of happiness during the Chinese New Year. Based on 20,288 questionnaires, samples from 346 cities in China were used in the report, covering various social groups. The research outcomes have been reported by many major medias, such as China Science Daily.