Open letter

To the President of the RAS

Academician V.E. Fortov

Dear Vladimir Evgenievich!

The adoption by the State Duma in September of the law “On the Russian Academy of Sciences, the reorganization of state academies of sciences and amendments to certain legislative acts of the Russian Federation” in its current form will put an end to the history of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

In this regard, we consider it our duty to declare the following:

FIRST. The draft federal law “On the Russian Academy of Sciences, the reorganization of state academies of sciences and amendments to certain legislative acts of the Russian Federation”, adopted in the second reading by the State Duma, is heading towards the actual liquidation of the Russian Academy of Sciences, stopping the reforms begun in the wounds, destruction and degradation scientific potential, defense capability and national security of the country.

SECOND. We are not only against the term “liquidation of the Russian Academy of Sciences,” but also categorically object to the use of the expressions “ ...the Russian Academy of Sciences is being created” in the bill. .." and " ...established by this Federal Law... " . They contain legal contradictions that can easily be used to implement the bill not in the interests of the scientific community, but to destroy the scientific potential of the RAS institutes.

THIRD. The most important question is how the RAS institutes will be managed, who will determine their scientific policy and manage the financing of institutes and laboratories? These functions should under no circumstances be transferred to the hands of officials - only scientists should manage scientists. We insist that the institutes of the Russian Academy of Sciences should remain under the jurisdiction of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and the management of property related to scientific research should be carried out by the institutes of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Proposals were received both from members of the Academy and from ordinary members of the scientific community to create an independent audit commission to check the appropriateness of spending budget funds. The inclusion of members who do not belong to the Academy in such a commission could well be considered.

FOURTH. We insist on maintaining the practice of electing directors by the institute staff with subsequent approval by the Presidium of the RAS. The appointment of directors “from above” can lead to conflict between the director and the scientific staff of the institute. This has already happened at the Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Physics of the RRC KI.

FIFTH. We are against the mechanical merger of the three academies. Each of these academies is a living organism, connected from within by many horizontal connections. Their mechanical fusion will lead to the creation of a clumsy monster, unable to make any decisions.

SIXTH. The charter of the Russian Academy of Sciences should retain the clause that members of the Academy are elected for life. Deprivation of an academic title is unacceptable - this is a generally accepted norm in the world. The Government of the Russian Federation assumes that one of the most important functions of the Academy should be an expert one. However, an expert who can be excluded from the list of experts is no longer independent.

SEVENTH. We are categorically against the possibility of actual exclusion of corresponding members from the membership of the Academy. The institution of corresponding members of the Academy, traditional for Russia, has proven its effectiveness and must be preserved.

Dear Vladimir Evgenievich!

This letter was prepared by a relatively small initiative group. But we assure you that the theses set out in this letter are shared by the majority of members of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

The letter is sent to you personally, but we will organize a wide collection of signatures under the objections we have expressed to the bill in order to send it through official channels to the State Duma.