Once again about the programs of the Presidium of the RAS / To the results of the General Meeting of the RAS

Once again about the programs of the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences

For four months of this year, the Ministry of Higher Education and Science has been blocking funds already distributed from the programs of the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

After the club’s speech on this topic ( 1julyclub.org/node/310 ), which was widely covered in the press, a promise was made about a speedy solution to the problem, reflected in a TASS report ( tass.ru/nauka/6264213 ).

However, instead, on the eve of the May holidays, a new competition was announced with a one-week application deadline and a completely different range of participants, now including scientific departments of universities.

The competitive selection of programs was once carried out by commissions of experts of the Russian Academy of Sciences, but the provision on the new competition for some reason places the decision in the hands of a joint commission of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the ministry, despite the announced transfer of all expert functions to the Academy of Sciences. The uncertainty of the situation has left many scientists faced with a choice: give up chances to receive much-needed additional funding or violate ethical principles that do not allow them to claim what has already been promised to others. It is unclear whether the ministry’s action was direct sabotage of the decision of the highest authorities to support the Russian Academy of Sciences or another attempt to drive a wedge between academic and university science.

Since the Presidium’s programs were practically the only source of funds for conducting experimental research at the institutes of the Russian Academy of Sciences, their freezing should be considered as the desire of the Ministry of Education and Science to destroy science at the institutes of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and thereby the institutes themselves.

In any case, the demoralizing influence of the new “competition” and its easily predictable scandalous results on various circles of the scientific community cannot be overestimated.

The July 1st Club considers it necessary:

1) immediate release of funds in full for already approved programs of the Presidium of the RAS and transfer of money to direct executors;

2) extension of the deadline for submitting applications for a NEW competition for large projects with the participation of academic institutes and universities and with the Ministry allocating separate additional funding for it, which would give the opportunity to all worthy applicants to participate in the competition under clear and transparent conditions;

3) an official refusal to evaluate scientific activities by incompetent officials and the transfer of these functions to the expert councils of the Russian Academy of Sciences;

4) a clear position of the leadership of the Russian Academy of Sciences on the issue of management of scientific research and the adequate use of funds allocated for these purposes;

5) due to the unprecedented delay in funding, exclude any attempts to increase the state assignment for the number of publications in 2019 for the executors of existing projects.

To the results of the General Meeting of the Russian Academy of Sciences

At the General Meeting of the Russian Academy of Sciences, dedicated to the results of 2019, along with a report on the most significant achievements of Russian science, the principles and mechanisms for the further activities of the reformed Academy of Sciences, developed by the leadership of the Russian Academy of Sciences, were published. Legislative consolidation of expert functions in the scientific field for the Academy and the emerging prospect of servicing the economic and other activities of government institutions by scientific councils and commissions of the Russian Academy of Sciences are considered as a diplomatic success. The leadership of the Russian Academy of Sciences has done a lot of work in this direction, but its results do not inspire optimism. By sacrificing its special status in the state and abandoning the ideals of free scientific activity, the Academy is drawn into a cumbersome and ineffective process of bureaucratic planning and reporting, which kills scientific creativity. The isolation of the Academy from the life of scientific institutions makes scientists powerless in the face of the arbitrariness of officials who carry out the orders of incompetent superiors. The scientific profession in such conditions loses its attractiveness for young people, the degradation of the level of research continues, and today the plight of domestic science and education, unfortunately, can no longer be corrected by the cosmetics that are proposed in the draft final resolution of the General Meeting.

The July 1st Club considers it necessary to highlight the following provisions in the resolution of the General Meeting as priorities for the activities of the RAS.

1. Fundamental scientific knowledge has independent value; it constitutes the wealth of national culture. Therefore, the development of fundamental science and science-oriented education and providing conditions for the work of scientists is the most important responsibility of a modern state.
2. The creation of institutes is a natural consequence of the development of academic scientific schools and opportunities for collective research. Therefore, the restoration of the organizational unity of the Russian Academy of Sciences with its institutes is a necessary condition for the development of domestic science. The work of institutes should be managed by scientists.
3. Scientific activity is not a service; the volume of its funding should be determined by special procedures.
4. The study of the patterns of development of nature, society and man is a creative process that does not lend itself to strict planning and quantitative measurement. Therefore, it is necessary to abandon scientometric indicators in assessing the effectiveness of the work of scientists and institutions as the main (and even more so the only) criterion, using quantitative data only as additional to expert assessment, and only in those areas of science in which their feasibility is recognized by the scientific community.
5. Funding for work in the field of fundamental science should be significantly increased. In addition, to enhance the reputation of the scientific profession and make it attractive to young people, it is necessary to ensure a variety of conditions for free scientific activity, including postgraduate research, scientific mobility and the absence of bureaucratic pressure.

Club "1 July"