Science was multiplied for the Kurchatov Institute – Newspaper Kommersant No. 26 (7471) dated 02/13/2023

NRC “Kurchatov Institute” strengthens its position in the Russian system of academic science: the government immediately transferred to its jurisdiction seven important scientific institutes, which in 2013, as part of the reform of the Russian Academy of Sciences, were subordinated to FASO, and then to the Ministry of Education and Science. The ministry explains this decision by the desire to “combine the efforts of scientific teams in the creation of advanced domestic technologies.” The academy feared such a reassignment last year – however, now they say that the Russian Academy of Sciences will continue to provide scientific and methodological guidance in these research institutes.

Last week, a decree of the Government of the Russian Federation was published, expanding the list of scientific organizations in respect of which the NRC “Kurchatov Institute” exercises the powers of the founder and owner of the property. The list includes the Institute of Macromolecular Compounds, the Institute of Silicate Chemistry, the Research Center “Crystallography and Photonics”, the Research Institute for System Research, the Institute for Design Problems in Microelectronics, the Institute of Microwave Semiconductor Electronics. V. G. Mokerova and the Physico-Technological Institute. K. A. Valieva. Previously, these institutes were managed by the Russian Academy of Sciences, but in 2013, as part of the reform of academic science, they were transferred to the jurisdiction of the Federal Agency for Scientific Organizations, and after its abolition (2018) – under the control of the Ministry of Education and Science.

As the Ministry of Education and Science explained to Kommersant, the decision to transfer them to Kurchatnik (run by the government of the Russian Federation) was made “in order to combine the efforts of scientific teams in the creation and implementation of advanced domestic technologies in the field of microelectronics and new materials.” The department points to the need to “consolidate efforts to form a single scientific and technological space of the country.” “There will be no changes in relation to scientific employees,” the ministry assured Kommersant. “The implementation of the research topics formed for 2023 and state assignments approved on their basis will continue in full, taking into account their financial support.”

The press service of the Russian Academy of Sciences assured Kommersant that “nothing changes” in the matter of interaction between the academy and the seven institutes: the Russian Academy of Sciences “still, in accordance with the law, continues to provide scientific and methodological guidance for the scientific and scientific and technical activities of these organizations” . Recall that a document is currently undergoing public discussion, according to which the examination of scientific and scientific-technical results obtained by Kurchatnik will be carried out by the Russian Academy of Sciences. In addition, “for deeper integration”, representatives of the leadership of the National Research Center “Kurchatov Institute” will become permanent participants in the operational meeting under the President of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and representatives of the leadership of the Russian Academy of Sciences will become permanent participants in the operational meeting under the President of the National Research Center “Kurchatov Institute”, the Ministry of Education and Science says.

It should be noted that the idea of ​​“consolidating efforts” for the implementation of strategic initiatives in the scientific and technical sphere was discussed on February 8 at a meeting of the Presidential Council for Science and Education. Then Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko suggested uniting some research institutes 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.

The government is really discussing the possibility of combining scientific institutes into large structures, says a Kommersant source close to the Ministry of Education and Science. But there are no specific plans for other research institutes there yet. The main goal of this decision is to simplify the working conditions of institutions in the field of procurement, the interlocutor of Kommersant explains.

Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Alexei Khokhlov wrote in his Telegram channel that “for the teams and directors of at least some of these institutes, as well as the specialized departments of the Russian Academy of Sciences, this order came as a complete surprise.” “Kommersant” tried to find out the opinion of the institutions themselves about the change of the founder, but most of the research institutes did not respond to requests. The Institute of Macromolecular Compounds declined to comment. Director of the Institute of Microwave Semiconductor Electronics. VG Mokerova Sergei Gamkrelidze told Kommersant that he himself learned about the changes at the end of the week. “What this will lead to is not clear,” Mr. Gamkrelidze said. According to him, he tried to find out the details from the Ministry of Education and Science, but they could not explain them to him there. Kommersant’s Kurchatov Institute did not respond to inquiries.

Recall that in September 2022, the Russian Academy of Sciences held presidential elections, which were won by Gennady Krasnikov, General Director of the Research Institute of Molecular Electronics. Several interlocutors of Kommersant at the academy then called Mr. Krasnikov “the man of Mikhail Kovalchuk” – the president of the Kurchatov Institute, a corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Some of Kommersant’s interlocutors at the time feared that the election of Mr. Krasnikov would lead to an increase in the administrative weight of Kurchatnik in the Russian scientific world and to the fact that the most powerful institutions would come under the control of Kurchatnik, whose work in this case would become “completely applied” . Gennady Krasnikov himself stated before the presidential elections of the Russian Academy of Sciences that his opponents were trying to denigrate him.

Anna Vasilyeva