Research On The Government Audit Of University Research Funds In Guangdong Province

During the last few years, several government officials from Guangdong Science and Technology system got caught due to corruption due to an investigation, which has involved more than 50 people. Comparing to previous cases in the past, this investigation is a shocking one that has involved the largest number of people, covered the widest range of companies, and involved the greatest amount of money in the science and technology field. The case raised urgent concern from the general public on the use of scientific research funds. How to prevent corruption in Guangdong universities and promote scientific and technological innovation becomes an urgent issue that needs everyone’s immediate attention.Using scientific research funds management problem as the breakthrough point, this paper addresses the necessity of strengthening the audit/supervision of the government research funding in Colleges and Universities; it also defines relevant concepts and theories around the auditing process of scientific research funds, including the "immune system" theory, governance theory, and etc. The paper also summarizes the existing problems of Guangdong university research funding program, such as the lack of coordination of the current program, failure to achieve full coverage of the audit process, misuse of the audit result, lack of awareness of the importance of audit deficiencies, and etc.Finally, the paper recommends a few improvements that can address the current problems by applying experiences of other audit programs in other provinces and countries. Those include: improving the understanding of the importance of audit supervision; strengthening the innovation of audit management; promoting the full coverage of the audit, improving audit supervision level; enhancing the audit mechanism to utilize the results, making full use of the audit results, and etc.