Ministry according to need, academy according to ability

The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) and the Ministry of Education and Science want to change the mechanism for the formation of research plans for universities and research institutes. At the same time, academicians and officials did not agree on the details of this procedure. The RAS wants to reserve the key point – to decide which projects and topics are relevant and worthy of funding. The Ministry of Education and Science does not want to give the decisive vote to the Russian Academy of Sciences, but agrees that it is necessary to move from the “capabilities” of universities to the “needs” of the country. Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova pointed out to academics and officials the risks of reform – she suggested that the work of scientific institutions could simply stop due to additional expertise.

The discussion between officials and academics went public on Wednesday at a meeting of the President’s Council on Science and Education. RAS President Gennady Krasnikov said that 43% of the budget funds allocated for science are spent on fulfilling the state task. According to the academician, now this money is not used effectively enough, since the leadership of universities and research institutes, when forming the topics of scientific papers, are guided by the headings of fundamental research programs.

“They themselves form the themes of the work. At the same time, they try to choose topics that are already 70-80% completed, – the head of the Russian Academy of Sciences revealed the scheme. – They are given to the Ministry (Education and Science. – “b”), and it sends it to the academy for examination.” According to him, “the trouble is” that the Russian Academy of Sciences is asked to evaluate these topics only in terms of their scientific nature, their presence in the rubricator and publication activity. Therefore, the Academy in 99% of cases is forced to give a positive conclusion. “But what if the question was different? Mr. Krasnikov continued. “Perhaps there are more important works?” Maybe you should change the parameters of the task to higher ones? There would be a different answer.

Therefore, the head of the Russian Academy of Sciences suggested that President Vladimir Putin change the existing approach to the formation of the state task: “Institutes should first send proposals for their work to us, to the Academy of Sciences. To the thematic departments, where we will discuss them with the institutes. In the process of interaction, the departments supplement the proposals with new topics, adjust the parameters of the work. And such a coordinated position is submitted to the ministry for approval of the state task.

He cited as an example the recent meeting of the Scientific Council of the Russian Academy of Sciences on the complex problems of energy development. The issue of creating a generating turbine with a capacity of more than 350 megawatts was discussed there. “The implementation of this important project requires a whole series of fundamental research, which we could immediately include in the state task, instead of looking for additional funding,” Mr. Krasnikov explained. In his opinion, this would increase the effectiveness of research – and the “state resource” would be used more efficiently.

The head of the Ministry of Education and Science, Valery Falkov, agreed that such a problem exists: “The planning of scientific topics is carried out from below. We get a model of opportunities, not needs. Therefore, the task is to move to the need model “what we need”, and not “what we can”. Including change for what you need. However, the minister cautiously reacted to the proposal of the head of the Russian Academy of Sciences to actually give the academy a key voting right: “One cannot underestimate the role of everyone – and the ministry, which is the founder (of scientific institutes.— “b”)”. Mr. Falkov added that enterprises of the real sector of the economy and companies should also be included in the work on the formation of scientific topics, “because they understand what products and services they need.”

Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko suggested that some research institutes be united into large consortiums with a head structure, the head of which would have to be personally responsible for the results of their activities.

“Now in the Russian Federation there are more than 4.2 thousand scientific organizations that implement more than 13 thousand scientific topics at the expense of the federal budget. We have a huge number of fractional topics,” he explained his proposal.

However, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Tatyana Golikova saw risks for universities and scientific organizations in the reform. She recalled that in 2021, a program of fundamental scientific research was approved, which since then has been the basis for the formation of state assignments for research institutes. “Priorities have already been determined in it, and state tasks have been formed on the basis of these priorities,” she said. “And if we want to subject the program of fundamental research to secondary examination, then we must admit that it was not drawn up according to priority.” In addition, Ms. Golikova pointed out, government assignments are the basis for the existence of any budgetary institution. “On October 1 of the year preceding the new financial year, the budget is submitted and adopted,” she explained. “If at the time of the formation of the state task we will additionally engage in expertise, then we will stop all activities of budgetary institutions of science. Or an examination of draft state assignments must be carried out at least a year before the formation of the budget, so as not to stop the vital activity of institutions.

Vadim Brazhkin, director of the Institute for High Pressure Physics, believes that the Russian Academy of Sciences wants to raise its status with this proposal.

He recalls that the law “On Science” states that the academy should exercise scientific and methodological guidance over all those involved in science in the country. However, in reality, this comes down to the usual coordination of proposals from universities that have been submitted to the Ministry of Education and Science, and the academy itself does not have direct contact with universities and research institutes. “Therefore, the head of the Russian Academy of Sciences proposes to raise the status of the academy so that it is the first to participate in coordinating the state task,” he explains. “Now the decision on funding is with the Ministry of Education and Science. And the academy wants it to depend, among other things, on its decision.” However, in his opinion, this will not fundamentally change the situation, since the branches of the Russian Academy of Sciences even now rarely offer to change the subject of research.

“If the examination of scientific topics were given to business, then they could, in theory, ask not to measure the properties of electrons in an incomprehensible place, but to offer to make an engine, for example,” he argues. engines, and there are few of those who can. But the academy is good at measuring the properties of electrons.”

Anna Vasilyeva