Big and small

Dear editors!

The well -known question "does the size matter?" There is a completely obvious answer: of course, has! Especially when it comes to financing projects. And it is obvious not only for us, recipients of money, but also for those who give money, for officials. Is it possible to do serious work for a penny? In the best case, you can only pretend that you did something useful.

That is why, in my opinion, they close the main competition of the RFFI, once, so to speak, Alpha and Omega of his activities. A competition marked with the first letter of the alphabet. Yes, in those days when our country, only taking shape on the wreckage of the decaying Soviet Union, kneeling with an outstretched hand under the leadership of the alcoholic president, grants, which gave scientists to support the pants. They allowed us, researchers, at least somehow stay afloat, to get even pennies, but the allowances for penny salaries.

But since then, the situation has changed completely dramatically. The country got up from the knees, revived its military power and built a gas pipeline in China, continuing to simultaneously develop a network of gas pipelines to Europe. Defective changes occurred in the field of economics: giant corporations came to the trading of vodka, beer and sneakers in street tents - Rosneft, Rosatom, Rostec. The changes affected all areas of life, of course, a powerful system of support for scientific research was built.

Megalots and megagrators poured serious means into research and development, megagrators helped to attract a number of large scientists to Russia who could now even meet with the President of Russia and listen to what a really great person would tell them. And against such a background, that a serious one can make a grant of a million rubles? Yes, in Moscow, one average researcher for a year should receive much more, and the Grant RFFI is given to a group of up to ten people.

In the same RFFF, a different format came to smashing oil in a thin layer when knowledgeable people chose really important topics and announced thematic competitions. Naturally, the moment has come when the contest to maintain the pants became unnecessary. True, there are many people who are still clinging to the outdated and requires the announcement of the usual competition. Some impudent even more - for example, the academic trade union requires not only to announce the competition, but also increase the number of supported initiative projects, as well as their financing.

The press service of the native ministry quite explained the current place of the competition “A” in the universe. TASS reports: “In addition to the“ A ”contest, the RFFI holds many scientific competitions that are important no less than the“ A ”contest. In particular, according to the press service, in 2020, the RFFI held the competition “Fundamental problems of the emergence and distribution of coronavirus epidemics”, the topics of which are similar to the directions of the “ A” contest.

I climbed to see the list of winners, and there, indeed, what is not: the study of the use of diode lasers against viruses and bacteria, and the study of the effect of stress associated with pandemia, on the emotional state and psychological functioning of a woman during pregnancy. All such vital and important - he imagined how, during the next pandemic, cars with LED batteries ride through the streets and fighters with a virus with laser blaster are running behind them, and Anastasia Rakova gives pregnant women methodological manuals to combat stress.

In general, the RFFIF is moving in the right direction, and we see a similar picture at the Academy of Sciences: instead of Melkoyemia, who reigned in academic scientific programs for many years, now everything was different-a competition was held on large scientific projects in the priority areas of scientific and technological development. According to its results, the winners will be given 100 million rubles. In the year, significant results will be obtained at the output. We will learn how, using laser radiation, you can not only destroy viruses, but also increase yield, milk yield and assignment. And in the framework of the study of the history of the letter of European civilization, we will finally understand in which country the monk first not only uttered the word on the letter “Yo”, knocking his head against the tributary, but also entered the letter “E”, so to speak, to the annals of European civilization.

In general, colleagues, it is time to understand: great political leaders require large forms in all areas of life, give rise to these forms. Today we play in a big thing!

Your Ivan Ekonomov