Translated material
President of the Russian Federation V.V. Putin - presented to the Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the Siberian Federal District V.A. Tolokonsky
President of the Russian Federation V.V. Putin st. Ilyinka, 23, Moscow, 103132 from the Chairman of the SNM SB RAS
Ph.D. A.V. Matveeva
Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich!
As it became known, the Government of the Russian Federation plans to carry out a radical reform of the Russian Academy of Sciences as soon as possible.
Young scientists of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences fundamentally disagree with both the form of preparation of the draft Federal Law and the essence of the proposed reforms.
Despite the fact that in the last decade the Academy has carried out a reform of the remuneration of scientific workers, the situation with housing for young scientists has significantly improved (state certificates for the Federal Target Program “Housing”, service housing, housing construction cooperatives with the participation of the RHD Foundation), which in general, stopped the collapse of the Academy and the outflow of scientific personnel abroad; issues fundamental to the successful development of science and the country's innovative potential were never resolved. Such issues include problems with the catastrophic obsolescence of the instrument base of RAS institutes, the lack of global world-class scientific projects, and the problem of demand for RAS developments in the manufacturing sector of the economy.
In recent years, the emphasis in financing science has been on the development of scientific activities in universities, as well as the global Skolkovo project; there have been no significant increases in financial support for scientific research at the RAS. In light of this, the proposed reforms do not seem to initiate the development of scientific activity, and are doomed to failure in advance. The approach proposed by the Government is reminiscent of the classic “take and divide” principle provided by generous bonuses to Academy members.
We believe that rash steps in reforming the Russian Academy of Sciences may cause a new round of outflow of scientific personnel, and especially young people, from a country that is not capable of consistently and purposefully developing science, relying on the scientific community.
We urgently ask you to stop the hasty adoption of the new law on the RAS, conduct a comprehensive discussion of it with the scientific community, and subsequently ensure the development of the Russian Academy of Sciences for the benefit of the country and its citizens.
Chairman of the Council of Scientific Youth of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences
A.V. Matveev