The Presidium of the Russian Academy

On October 10, 2017, the second meeting of the new composition of the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences was held at the Academy of Sciences. The head of the Russian Academy of Sciences Alexander Sergeyev presented the distribution of duties between members of the academic areopaga (*.pdf). Then the head of Fano Mikhail Kotyukov presented to members of the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences of his colleagues at the agency and spoke about their duties.

The President of the Russian Academy of Sciences later spoke about what the Academy of Sciences will concentrate his efforts in the near future: on raising the legal status of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the development of specific projects as part of the Strategy for the Scientific and Technological Development of Russia. Vice President of the Russian Academy of Sciences Alexei Khokhlov spoke about what to do to change the legal status of the Academy of Sciences.

Then Academician Valery Rubakov as the head of the departmental commission of Fano, on the assessment of assessment and monitoring of the performance of scientific organizations, made a report that caused a tense discussion. Valery Anatolyevich talked about how work is going on an unscheduled assessment of academic organizations subordinate to the Fano.

The meeting discussed the question of whether expert councils in the RAS branches have time to submit their expert conclusions and recommendations for each of the institutes in order to finish the assessment this year. The main result of this work will be the division of all academic organizations into three categories: the first is leaders, the second - “strong middle peasants”, the third - lagging behind.

Academician Alexei Khokhlov asked colleagues from all branches to submit recommendations for all RAS organizations in the very near future. At the same time, Alexei Removich noted that the departments need to show objectivity and evaluate everyone according to the “Hamburg account”, otherwise, if all institutions are enrolled in the leaders and “middle peasants” (and there is such a trend), then the expert assessment of the wounds for the fano will not play any role.

“I give the word that there will be no automatic solution with the institutions that will fall into the third category. We will really sit down and see how we can straighten the situation with these institutions, ”the President of the Russian Academy of Sciences emphasized, in turn. He urged his colleagues to end the tactics of the besieged fortress that "we are all in the first category." Sergeev believes that this tactic is now unknown. Moreover, the lack of an objective assessment of organizations of the Russian Academy of Sciences may lead to the fact that “with a high probability we will be refused to receive funds” stipulated by the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation.

At the meeting of the Presidium, the question also arose of social injustice in paying for equal work by researchers working in different regions of Russia, as well as that for some reason, an increase in the payment of engineers who are very important for the scientific institutions of the Russian Academy of Sciences fell out of the May decrees of the President of the Russian Federation. Regional and professional disproportion in payment can cause social stress unnecessary in the election year.

Fragments of the meeting of the Presidium