Carrying out “no-man's-land innovation” is an important support for China to enter the forefront of innovative countries. In contrast, the traditional scientific research project formation and management mechanism cannot effectively support relevant domestic entities to explore the scientific research no man's land, and it is urgent to transform from “project-centered” to “human-centered”. According to the concreteness of research objectives of scientific research projects, this paper further divides “no-man's-land innovation” into three categories: basic research of free exploration, research on disruptive technologies, and research on core technologies. By analyzing the foreign and domestic new formation and management mechanism of scientific research projects oriented to “no man's land innovation”, the common characteristics are summarized. Finally, three suggestions are put forward for the reform of China's scientific research project system and mechanism, that is, to design project selection and support mechanisms according to the characteristics of different types of scientific research activities, to establish a more flexible project supervision and evaluation mechanism, and to pay attention to the cultivation of researchers and project managers.

Scientific Research Project Management, No Man's Land Innovation, Scientific Research Support Mechanism, Reform of S&T System