In society

The struggle continues

September 2, 2013 Igor Kharichev

The story with the draft Federal Law “On the Russian Academy of Sciences, the reorganization of the Russian academies of sciences and amendments to certain legislative acts of the Russian Federation”, which in a feverish rush was adopted by the glorious State Duma in two readings at the outcome of the spring session, is rapidly developing. Despite the summer lull, on vacation, despite the complete indifference of the company, employees of the RAS institutions throughout Russia held rallies, collected statements, resolutions, open letters, showing rare unanimous.

The fact that Russian society does not understand the role of science in the modern world, the contribution of domestic scientists to it, there is wine and wounds. It was necessary to pay much more attention to the popularization of those most significant studies that were conducted by the institutions of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and generally enlightenment. However, not scientists canceled popular science programs on federal television channels, cultivated obscurantism on other channels belonging to the president’s friends, for many years kept scientists on a hungry ration, thereby reducing the status of scientific activity.

Of course, there are serious shortcomings in the activities of the Russian Academy of Sciences. This is not always a fair distribution of money for scientific research (not the theft, but the allocation of money to the detriment of others!), This is the lack of clear assessments of the effectiveness of a researcher and scientific units, this is the presence among academicians and corresponding members of those who are underway of such a high scientific rank. In addition, the RAS for many years did not go further than talking about reform, there were no real steps. But does all this gives all this reason for the abolition of the Russian Academy of Sciences? Because the Law on RAS Reform, if it is adopted, transfers all the institutions together in the equipment and employees of the newly created agency, that is, officials (those officials who have already been ruined or frayed!), And the wounds turn into an “expert club”, the recommendations of which, as we are found, will not listen to. Does the wounds have the opportunity to really reform, relying on the strength and intelligence of 55 thousand researchers who work there?

In order to discuss all these issues, the initiative group of researchers of a wide range, which included the world fame of academicians V.E. Zakharov, V.A. Rubakov, R.I. Nigmatulin, S.M. Rogov, A.G. Litvak, A.R. Khokhlov, A.A. Starobinsky (and in total, it included 75 people! ), The conference of scientific workers of the Russian Academy of Sciences was convened, more than 2400 representatives from various institutions and different parts of Russia took part in it.

On August 29 and 30, those who are worried about the future of Russian science gathered in the main building of the Russian Academy of Sciences, because the main amount of fundamental research is carried out at the Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and their transfer to the custody of officials will actually destroy Russian science. A large hall for a thousand two hundred places and its environs were filled with employees of the Institute of RAS, scientists working in higher education. Scientists from many cities arrived where regional scientific centers of the Russian Academy of Sciences, representatives of the Russian “scientific diaspora” from a number of countries are located. For all the danger to science, which means that for the future of Russia, the bill on the reform of the Russian Academy of Sciences adopted in a terrible hurry played a positive role: he forced the scientific community to self -organize, show boiling civil activity, uniting both academics and ordinary researchers.

It is worth emphasizing: scientists working in the Russian Academy of Sciences are not against reform at all, they advocate reform. But it is precisely for the reform, and not for the destruction of the wounds, to which the final adoption of the law will lead to the form in which it passed two readings.

Conferences were preceded by serious and large -scale work, revealing a variety of problems and shortcomings in the work of the Russian Academy of Sciences in various directions and providing proposals for real reform, which would make Russian science more effective.

On August 29, on the opening day, the conference participants expected two surprises. The first is the statement of the unnamed employee of the Presidential Administration that was dispersed in the morning at the information agencies that the Law on the Reform of the Russian Academy of Sciences will be adopted without any amendments in the third reading closer to October. This meant that all the protests, all attempts to prove to the country's leadership that it was impossible to give science to the management of officials, did not have success. The coincidence of the beginning of the conference and the emergence of information is hardly by chance. It seems that RAS employees wanted to convince that their efforts are useless and it makes no sense to waste time. The effect turned out to be the opposite - the determination of the defenders of science to defend their position only increased.

Another surprise was that the bill was adopted in the first and second readings with violations of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, and very serious. This was stated by several speakers, among them - Ivan Starikov.


The fact is that, in accordance with paragraph “E” of Article 72 GELVA 3 “Federal structure”, general issues of education, education, science, culture, physical culture and sports are in the joint jurisdiction of the Russian Federation and the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. The Afederal Law on June 24, 1999 No. 119-ФЗ “On the principles and procedure for delimiting the subjects of jurisdiction and powers between state authorities of the Russian Federation and state authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation” in Article 13 provides for the state authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation in the consideration of the state Duma of draft federal laws on the subjects of joint jurisdiction. According to paragraph 2 of Article 13 of this Law, such projects, after they are submitted to the State Duma, “are sent to the legislative (representative) bodies of state power of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation and the highest executive bodies of state power of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation for submission to the State Duma within a thirty -day period of reviews for these bills”.

It turns out that the bill, which jeopardizes the future of Russian science, is a bill prepared by unknown by someone, even minister Livanov, which “unknown forces” pour with unimaginable perseverance, has no right to exist. It should be withdrawn simply because it is adopted in two readings with violation of the Constitution and current legislation. And if the government does not respond to him, there is reason to file a lawsuit in the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation. However, knowing our courts, one should not hope that the decision will be in favor of opponents of the bill. Therefore, in this case, it is dangerous to relax, stop the struggle. For our power does not hear reasonable arguments and recognizes only power.

Among the many speeches that were performed at the conference, the performance of the president of the Russian Academy of Sciences Academician V.E. Fortova. It was important to learn about the steps that the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences and Fortov himself managed to take. He told about a meeting with Putin, who was imbued with an understanding of problems that arose in the event of the adoption of the law, but he said that he was not able to prevent the process in an advanced process. (If the President of the Russian Federation cannot stop the adoption of the harmful law, what forces are pushing it!? The situation is very similar to a bearded joke about Brezhnev driving a limousine: “Who is going if he has a driver Brezhnev himself?”) And it was also reported that in interaction with the Duma the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences agreed to the bill, which returned everything, except for one thing: for the real estate, there would still be for real estate. The notorious agency will answer, but the president of the Russian Academy of Sciences will be headed. What to say about this? Firstly, there are no guarantees that the Duma will make these amendments, especially considering that the third reading involves only grinding legal formulations, and here we are talking about significant changes. By and large, the bill should be returned to the first reading, and even more correctly - completely withdraw it. But no one promises this. So the probability of obtaining a law in its current form is great. Secondly, even if it is possible to make the mentioned amendments, it is not the fact that the future of the Russian Academy of Sciences is cloudless. Most likely, Forters will not be able to cope with officials who, in the agency he headed, will not be appointed by him, and whose task is precisely the redistribution of property - otherwise the authorities would not defend the need for this agency for real estate management. Institutes, remaining in the Russian Academy of Sciences, have a chance to be on the street.

And, of course, there is a lot of recognition made by Portov: meetings with the leaders of the country showed that they poorly know about the activities of the Russian Academy of Sciences, about the people who work there. “We are also to blame for this,” concluded the President of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Dr. Roshal, director of the Research Institute of Emergency Pediatric Surgery and Traumatology, performed perfectly. Here are some of his theses: "Our present is wonderful, the future may be even worse." "What a scanty level of thinking of those who proposed it." "The law does not have a single clause aimed at the development of science." What is true is true - there are no such points.

N.D. Solzhenitsyna the abolition of science to which the adoption of the law will lead.

The performance of the Nobel laureate, academician Zhores Alferov, was expected to speak. In his opinion, the lack of demand for scientific results by the Russian economy and society is the main problem. At the same time, all modern civilization is based on scientific discoveries. President Putin spoke about 25 million jobs in high -tech industries by 2020, but where will they come from? Their revival can only be ensured by science, and the role of RAS in this is determined. It would seem that it is necessary to develop wounds in every possible way. Alferov has long passed proposals for the reform of the RAS. And some time ago, an ex-minister called him, the current adviser to the President of the Russian Federation for science A. Fursenko, saying that a law is introduced to the Duma, which took into account all the wishes of the academician. But when Alferov met the text of the law, he considered it an insult to the entire scientific community.

Director of the Institute of the United States and Canada Academician S.M. Rogov at specific figures showed that with a total increase in science expenses, expenses for the Russian Academy of Sciences in the last five years have practically never rose. Last year, allocations for civil science were five times higher than the financing of the Russian Academy of Sciences. But in general, science expenses in Russia are noticeably less than in economically developed countries. Rogov wondered why business in the USA and Europe invests money in science? It is beneficial to business there. And we do not. Our tax system actually punishes for supporting scientific research. Rogov also emphasized that this is a myth that in the USA science is developing only at universities. The share of American universities in science expenses is only 13%. In the USA there are federal scientific institutes, laboratories, technology parks, but there are no ministries of science! And why not contact the Ministry of Education of South Korea, France, Finland with a request to conduct an audit of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation? (To which there are actually a lot of questions. For example, why are the standards of modern secondary and higher education such that graduates of universities are absolutely not ready for the beginning of scientific activity?)

Representative of the Dagestan Regional Scientific Center A.K. Murtazaev, one of many representatives of the Russian Railways and regional scientific centers (RNCs) who could not help but come to the conference, because if the law is adopted, their structure would disappear, explained that RAS is one of the state -forming rods of Russia, that a contribution to science is often inseparable from a contribution to a culture that is extremely important, although not interesting to officials. That in the regions of the RNC stand in the way of obscurantism. And in Dagestan, where the situation is chronically difficult, keeping a scientist is much cheaper and more useful than a police or a military man. The representative of the young generation of scientists from the Far Eastern Department of the Russian Academy of Sciences Yu.V. Latushko: Academic science in the regions performs not only a purely scientific function, but also serves as the most important factor in maintaining the country's unified intellectual space.

None of the more than 70 speakers spoke out in support of the bill. The corresponding resolution was supported by the entire hall. But if the conference had been reduced only to condemning a dubious bill, it would not have the point of conducting it. Almost everyone who rose to the rostrum for two days talked about the problems and shortcomings in the work of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in the organization of the scientific process and made specific proposals on how to solve problems and eliminate the shortcomings. Many of the speakers emphasized the need for democratization in the management of science, strengthening elements of self -government. (Specific proposals can be acquainted in the resolution of the conference "On the Reforms of the Russian Academy of Sciences" and theses of speeches.)

People who took part in the conference, as well as the overwhelming number of employees of the RAS institutions are supporters of the RAS reform. And at the same time opponents of the bill proposed by the government. Because the bill will not lead to reform, but to the destruction of wounds. And also because the real reform of the Academy cannot be carried out without the participation of scientists, without reliance on their energy and experience, for self -government. Officials should understand that science can develop only in the conditions of the freedom of scientific activity supported by the state, and, preferably, freedom of scientists themselves.

There is practically no doubt that officials will not want to understand or hear anything. Not a single representative of the Ministry of Education and Science has registered at the conference. It is clear to them officials: the doctor said: “To the morgue”, which means to the morgue.

But the patient is still alive. And he can stand up for himself.

PS Since the future of the bill on the reform of the Russian Academy of Sciences is absolutely not clear, the participants in the conference of scientists of the Russian Academy of Sciences decided not to close it, but to make it permanent.

Author-General Director of Knowledge-Izili magazine

Photo report by Maria Olendskaya/Hedgehog