“And Lenin is so young...”

On September 2, 2014, the Council of Young Scientists and Specialists of the Mathematical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences adopted a statement, which, in particular, states:

“Many years of experience , including by with Steklov Mathematical , confirms led that the be scientific organization a should scientist a serious authority and experience significant Institute administrative in work . Authority in the scientific community is gained through years of hard work ; young , authoritative scientist - administrators are extremely rare . Therefore, proposed - year limit in 65 the bill the appears to be too low .

< … > We understand the problem of rejuvenating the leadership of scientific organizations , but we consider it necessary to make following changes the to the bill :

1) increase limit the age for directors to a higher age , not less than 70 years < ... > » .

For the full text of the statement see , at www.saveras.ru/archives/10223

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This statement began to be heatedly discussed on social networks. Here are just a few pointed comments:

Eduard Girsh : “You cannot introduce age discrimination (by the way, prohibited by the Labor Code) - as a precedent. The difference between discriminating by age, gender or nationality is small. It is much more reasonable to limit the maximum period during which this position can be held: 5, 10 years.”

Alexey Ivanov : “Young scientists are 45 years old, young corresponding members are 51 years old, young directors are 70 years old. And Lenin, so young..."

Mikhail Katsnelson : “It seems like I’ve already said it a hundred times. But this is the kind of thing that can be said a thousand times without fear that someone will understand or simply believe. There is only one problem in Russian science. And in Russian life in general there is only one. The same. This is the absolute dominance of the principle “You’re the boss, I’m the fool.” I’m the boss - you’re a fool.” That's all. If conversations on the topic “how can we reorganize the Uryupinsk trust of dog grooming salons” (well, or what do you want to reorganize) go past this topic - stop immediately. Life is too short to babble about, no matter what, no matter with whom.”

Valery Adzhiev : “The very fact that this kind of “statement” comes precisely from “young scientists and specialists” says too much about the atmosphere in Russian science. And not only in science.”

What do think about the age limit directors of for institutes RAS readers of TrV - Nauka ? We are waiting for your comments at : info@trvscience.ru website or on the newspaper’s .