Dreams and realities of Russian science

Science as a sphere of funeral services
Vladimir Sergeevich Arutyunov,
Doctor of Chemical Sciences, Professor, Head of the Laboratory of the Institute of Chemical Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Nezavisimaya Gazeta, 27.05.2009

Yesterday, the next General Meeting of the Academy was completed in the building of the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow (left).
A five–minute walk from it is the building of the Institute of Chemical Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the back side of which is in the picture in the center.
Not only that, it is the building of one of the leading academic institutions.
It is also an architectural monument of the XVIII century and a monument of Russian culture, in which a galaxy of outstanding Russian scientists worked
(photo by the author).
The picture on the right was taken by a correspondent STRF.ru during the General Meeting of the Russian Academy of Sciences on 26.05.2009.

As the economic crisis escalated, the assurances of the highest-ranking government officials in their commitment to the innovative path of development and passionate calls for the transition to this path were heard again. Perhaps many have already forgotten about this, but the last time such calls were made 10 years ago, during the default of 1998. And before that – about 10 years ago, during the state crisis and the eve of perestroika. Therefore, it is already possible to predict with confidence the decline of the "innovation rush" as the crisis recovers and oil prices rise on world markets.

Thus, the relations between the Russian state and Russian science are becoming more stable and traditional, one might even say ritualistic. People remember about science in the days of crisis and confusion, but they forget as soon as they manage to get back on the familiar and well-trodden road of raw materials development.

With the strengthening of the young Russian democracy and its state institutions, the nature of the relationship between the state and Russian science, which is personified primarily by the Russian Academy of Sciences, is increasingly shifting to the field of this kind of funeral services. In any case, for almost 20 years of its existence, the Russian state has not formulated any other task for the academy (declarations do not count) that it could actually perform in its current state, has not bothered to turn it into a real tool for achieving any clear state goals.

In this regard, it is symptomatic that one of the first reactions to the crisis of the new American administration was a powerful infusion of funds into American science. There is no doubt that this step is well calculated and the well-established legislative and administrative instruments of the relationship between science and the state, created over the past 30 years, will allow for effective returns.

The Russian state did not bother to create such tools. Even if we assume that the country's leadership will suddenly express readiness for a powerful infusion of funds into the scientific sphere, it will take many years of efforts to create structures and mechanisms capable of transforming these financial resources into real scientific and technological achievements.

In the meantime, Russian science, being in a state of "free fall", continues to develop along a completely calculated trajectory.

The average age of the employees of its leading force – the Russian Academy of Sciences – has already exceeded the 50-year mark (and according to some sources, the 60-year mark), and the average age of the top level – academicians and doctors of sciences – is inexorably approaching the 70-year mark. Since no noticeable changes in this trend are not only observed, but are not even planned, it can be safely extrapolated into the future and estimate the time when an average researcher reaches the 60-year, then 70-year milestone, etc. By the way, this time is not so great and lies within the next decade.

According to the opinion that dominates in the scientific community itself and is regularly voiced by its leadership, the main merit and achievement of the RAS over the past 20 turbulent years is "the preservation of the human potential of Russian science." Indeed, the Academy has been heroically fulfilling this mission for 20 years – preserving the scientific potential of the country for its future revival at the moment when the state finally realizes the need for such a revival.

But the moment never came. And the "personnel potential", unlike many other products, is a perishable product. After all, those who were then less than 40 left science, at least in Russia, for the most part, and there was no replacement adequate to them in terms of number and quality of training. And those who were over 40, although for the most part they remained in science, but they aged exactly 20 years. So how many more years and for what will this "potential" be "preserved"? In the meantime, the "preservation" function is already moving into the "mummification" stage. Creatively active scientists not only age over the years, but, alas, gradually leave.

Source: Trends in the development of the personnel potential of Russian Science. – M.: Institute of Problems of the Development of Science of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

One of the evidences of the absence of a state policy in the field of science was the substitution of a systematic approach to its revival with such voluntary steps as "accelerated development of certain priority areas", for example, nanotechnology. Who and on the basis of what criteria determined the priority for the country, its economy and science of this particular direction remains a mystery.

Apparently, the state is quite satisfied with the smooth transformation of the academy into a purely ritual council of elders. But then sooner or later the question will arise: at what average age of the academy's staff will have to state that its scientific and simply human potential has exhausted its capabilities and the death of this institution has occurred?

If someone still has illusions about the possibility of independent "reform of the Russian Academy of Sciences" in its current state, we recommend that you carefully study one of the most in-depth studies of the laws of the development of bureaucratic systems, widely known as Parkinson's law.

One of the characteristic symptoms of Parkinson's disease is the ratio of remuneration of "creators" and "managers". But even such a deep expert on the problem as Parkinson could hardly have imagined the possibility of neglect of the disease, which corresponds to the real difference in the position of administrative and managerial personnel at all levels in the Russian Academy of Sciences and those whom Parkinson calls "creators". Alas, with such a diagnosis, the specialist's prescription is inexorable and sounds like a verdict: "Nothing can be done at the third stage. The institution has practically died. It can be updated only by moving to a new location, changing the name and all employees."

I really hope that, contrary to the authoritative opinion of the specialist, the name and at least some of the employees can still be saved. That the Russian Academy of Sciences will always be an indispensable, and not only, ritual attribute of the Russian state. But this is unrealistic without a general revival of Russian science, which is possible only as a result of persistent and, alas, long-term systematic efforts of the state itself in this area, unrelated to the momentary conjuncture and formed as one of the most priority tasks of public administration. At the same time, it will be necessary to revive not individual fashion trends, but the whole science as such.

Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru/27.05.2009