We, the undersigned corresponding members of the Russian Academy of Sciences, express our categorical disagreement with the recently circulated appeal to the President of the Russian Federation [1] on the automatic transfer of corresponding members to full members of the RAS.

Membership in the RAS, as in any organization, is an internal matter of this organization, which is regulated by its charter. It is completely incomprehensible why the authors of the letter are turning to the President of the Russian Federation with a request to resolve such an internal issue with an entire Federal Law.

The arguments presented by the authors of the appeal do not seem convincing. The huge increase in the number of academicians and the thematic imbalance arising as a result of the merger with the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences and the Russian Academy of Agricultural Sciences is much more dangerous for the viability of the Academy than maintaining two-tier membership. In any case, we are categorically against the idea of ​​corresponding members being appointed as academicians by administrative decision or law.

Membership in the RAS is valuable only if it demonstrates recognition of scientific merit by colleagues: an academician can only be elected, not appointed. Corresponding members who sign an appeal to the president thereby commit a violation of elementary ethics: how can you ask your superiors to promote yourself to academicianship in a roundabout way, bypassing elections?

Corresponding members of the RAS A.A. Andronov, A.E. Anikin, P.I. Arseev, L.D. Beklemishev, A.A. Belavin, I.A. Bufetov, V.V. Vasin, I.V. Volovich, I.I. Gippius, S.K. Gulev, M.V. Danilov, A.V. Dybo, A.I. Ivanchik, I.T. Kasavin, I.B. Kozlovskaya, O.I. Koifman, P.S. Kopyev, V.V. Kocharovsky, O.E. Melnik, I.I. Mokhov, I.B. Petrov, N.N. Rozanov, A.M. Sergeev, N.N. Sibeldin, O.N. Solomina, I.I. Tkachev, E.A. Khazanov, D.R. Khokhlov, V.A. Cherepenin, M.I. Yalandin

The list is open, to join the application, please write to corresponding member. RAS Anna Vladimirovna Dybo at adybo at mail.ru

Third attempt

Many said that one of the significant reasons for the reform of the Russian Academy of Sciences in the senseless form in which it was carried out was the keen desire of one corresponding member to become an academician - and then, probably, the president of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Five years ago I wrote: “Carthaginem delendam esse. Nanotechnologist Kovalchuk should be an academician, and then the president of the Russian Academy of Sciences or what will remain of it during this siege” [2]. The third time, apparently, it will work.

Let me remind you: the Department of Physical Sciences twice failed the candidacy of M.V. Kovalchuk. As a result, in 2008, a department of nano- and information technologies (ONIT) was created (on the basis of the existing department of information technologies and computer systems), places in which - judging by the list of those selected - were distributed by Kovalchuk himself and Zh.I. Alferov. The department immediately elected Kovalchuk as an academician, but this was not confirmed by the General Meeting. The next year, Alferov proposed changing the charter in order to reduce the number of votes of the General Meeting required for election to an academician - and again it did not work out [2].

Now E.P. Velikhov (academic secretary of ONIT and, by the way, president of the Kurchatov Institute) collects signatures for a letter to the President of the Russian Federation with a request to immediately transfer all corresponding members of the united RAS to academicians [1, 3]. And some irresponsible corresponding members, on the contrary, sign a letter in which they call this initiative harmful and even immoral: “Corresponding members who signed an appeal to the president thereby commit a violation of elementary ethics - how can you ask the authorities to promote yourself to academics in a roundabout way, bypassing elections?" [4]. Still others note that this is generally a matter of the Academy’s Charter, and not at all of federal legislation [5].

In general, everything is clear with this. Another thing that is unclear is what motivates Evgeny Pavlovich. He cannot fail to understand what the current Kurchatov Institute and its leader are. Without claiming to be Freud and Dostoevsky, I would still venture to suggest that there is cognitive dissonance at work here. It is impossible to admit to oneself that one has given the institute into the hands of a vain nano-nothing; that a mechanism has been created that senselessly and fruitlessly grinds colossal funds into dust; that life is bad for the employees of physics institutes and departments, which created the glory of the Institute; that in his old age he himself turned into a clown’s assistant. “The main thing is that Misha doesn’t get angry.”

M.G.

1. www.rasconference.ru/images/second_session/ch.korr.pdf
2. Mikhail Gelfand. The amendment did not come out. TrV-Nauka No. 30 dated June 9, 2009
   ( http://trv-science.ru/2009/06/09/popravochka-ne-vyshla/ )
3. “The RAS is collecting signatures for an appeal to Putin to automatically make corresponding members academicians.” "Gazeta.ru" dated February 27, 2014
   ( www.gazeta.ru/science/news/2014/02/27/n_5980469.shtml )
4. “Membership in the RAS is an internal matter of this organization”
   (http://trv-science.ru/2014/03/03/ras/ )
5. “Corresponding Member of the RAS Ivanchik: an academician can only be elected, not appointed.” "Gazeta.ru" dated February 28, 2014
   ( www.gazeta.ru/science/news/2014/02/28/n_5981521.shtml)