Russian Basic Science: Changes Since the Collapse of the Soviet Union and the Impact of International Support

Massachusetts Institute Of Technology, Cambridge MA

Investigators

Abstract

Abstract SES 02-17597 Russian Basic Science: Changes Since the Collapse of the Soviet Union and the Impact of International Support Loren Graham, MIT The story of Russian science from the time of the advent of Gorbachev through the collapse of the Soviet Union and on to the present is a very dramatic one, but the details of that story are poorly known -- even in Russia. There is no overall description of these events and an analysis of their consequences. In just a few years one of the largest and most impressive scientific establishments in the world nearly collapsed. The combination of a slashing of the federal science budget to 20 percent of what it was before and the departure of thousands of the most talented scientists damaged Russian science so seriously that some observers predicted "the death of Russian science." We now know that this prediction was incorrect; Russian science has survived and the first signs of recovery are evident. However, during the transition period it has become clear that the Soviet forms of the organization and financing of research inherited by the new Russia are inappropriate for the democratic and free society that is the hope of most Russian citizens. As a result the financial supports and organizational principles of Russian science have either changed or been seriously challenged. This proposal describes and analyzes these changes, including the important influences exercised by foreign foundations that have become active in supporting Russian science, strengthening, in the process, new principles of peer refereeing and open competition. The PI will work Irina Dezhina in Russia, using archival research, statistical data analysis, interviews, and scholarly publications and reports of foundations and government organizations to tell this story within a context of the historical, political, and economic dimensions of the recent crisis of Russian science. The product of their efforts will be articles and a book on the recent history and current policies of Russian science. These publications should interest not only to historians and science policy specialists, but educated people everywhere, since several of the questions being considered are of general interest: How should science change when it makes the transition from being in an authoritarian society to a democratic one? What organizational structures best promote excellence in research and teaching? Which aspects of foreign models should be followed and how closely?