Science Council under the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation: May statements. Statement from the Science Council under the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation on the independent awarding of academic degrees by individual organizations

November 14, 2017 a meeting took place Council for Science under the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, at which members of the new Council were elected.

On November 14, 2017, the nineteenth meeting of the Science Council under the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation (hereinafter referred to as the Council) was held in Moscow. The Minister of Education and Science of the Russian Federation O.Yu. took part in the work of the Council. Vasilyeva and Deputy Minister of Education and Science of the Russian Federation G.V. Trubnikov.

In accordance with the regulations on the Council, the issue was considered about the work of the Council in 2015-2017 and about rotation composition of the Council. O.Yu. Vasilyeva thanked N.V. Bovina, V.I. Bogacheva, E.V. Boldyrev, A.E. Bondar, A.Yu. Vinogradova, E.A. Girsha, G.V. Golosova, V.V. Izmodenova, E.A. Lomonov, S.A. Lukyanova, A.V. Soboleva, K.I. Sonina, V.M. Ustinov for his work on the Council in 2015 – 2017; and A.V. Krasikov, D.S. Makarova, E.V. Cheval for his work as a member of the section of young scientists of the Council. Instead of them, by order of the minister, the following were introduced into the Council, into the main composition:

Bonch-Osmolovskaya Elizaveta Alexandrovna– Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Deputy Director for Scientific Work, Head of Department of the Institute of Microbiology named after. S.N. Vinogradsky RAS;
Vinogradova Olga Igorevna– Head of the laboratory of the Institute of Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry named after. A.N. Frumkin RAS;
Volkov Mikhail Vladimirovich– Professor of the Ural Federal University named after the first President of Russia B.N. Yeltsin;
Zagainova Elena Vadimovna– Professor of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Director of the Research Institute of Biomedical Technologies of the Nizhny Novgorod State Medical Academy of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation;
Kulakov Ivan Yurievich– Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, head of the laboratory of the Institute of Oil and Gas Geology and Geophysics named after. A.A. Trofimuk SB RAS;
Lopatin Alexey Vladimirovich- Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Acting Director of the Paleontological Institute named after. A.A. Borisyak RAS;
Lutovinov Alexander Anatolievich– Professor of the Russian Academy of Sciences, head of the laboratory of the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences;
Moldovan Alexander Mikhailovich- Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, scientific director of the Russian Language Institute. V.V. Vinogradov RAS;
Solomina Olga Nikolaevna– Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Director of the Institute of Geography of the Russian Academy of Sciences;
Sorin Alexander Savelievich– Chief Scientific Secretary of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research;
Tsfasman Mikhail Anatolievich– Head of the Sector of the Institute for Problems of Information Transmission named after. A.A. Kharkevich RAS;
Sheval Evgeniy Valerievich– senior researcher at Moscow State University named after M.V. Lomonosov;
Shcherbina Anna Anatolyevna– Vice-Rector of the Russian Chemical-Technological University named after D.I. Mendeleev;
Yudkevich Maria Markovna– Vice-Rector of the National Research University Higher School of Economics;

Members of the section of young scientists of the Science Council:

Vasilevsky Alexander Alexandrovich– Head of the laboratory of the Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry named after. Akademikov M.M. Shemyakin and Yu.A. Ovchinnikov RAS;
Dudina Dina Vladimirovna– Associate Professor, Novosibirsk State Technical University;
Kalashnikova Alexandra Mikhailovna– senior researcher at the Physico-Technical Institute named after A.F. Ioffe RAS;
Tarasov Alexander Igorevich– Associate Professor at the National Research University Higher School of Economics;

The Council also considered the issue of elections chairman and deputy Chairman of the Council in science. Elected Chairman of the Council Corresponding Member of the RAS Yu.Yu. Kovalev, Deputy Chairman - Corresponding Member of the RAS A.I. Ivanchik.

In addition, the Council considered the issue of Federal Target Program "Research and Development" and discussed with ministry staff the problems associated with this program.

As part of the discussion of the work of scientific funds and grant support for scientists, the Council discussed the issue of RFBR competitions and adopted a statement in which it addresses the RFBR Council with a proposal to direct at least half of the additional allocated funds to finance a competition for initiative projects for basic research (competition code “a”), which is the most important instrument for financing basic science in Russia and has proven to be the most effective mechanism for increasing the share publications of Russian scientists in world science.

The Council also expressed its proposals in connection with the proposal submitted to the Council for consideration. State program “Scientific and technological development of the Russian Federation”.

On independent awarding of academic degrees by individual organizations

Science Council under the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation

Statement by the Science Council under the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation on the independent awarding of academic degrees by individual organizations

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The Science Council under the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation (hereinafter referred to as the Council) has familiarized itself with the recently published Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 553 of May 11, 2017. The Council notes that in accordance with this resolution, in the near future all federal and national research universities.

The Council believes that delegating the right to independently award state-recognized academic degrees to a large number of educational and scientific institutions can destroy the system of certification of scientific personnel in our country. This will certainly reduce the competitiveness of the Russian Federation in the global markets for research, high technology and education.

Among dozens of federal and national research universities, there are many that have demonstrated their inability to provide high-quality training of scientific personnel in a number of fields of science, primarily in economics, pedagogy and law. According to the Dissernet community, members and sometimes chairmen of dissertation councils operating at these universities are authors, supervisors, consultants, or opponents of dissertations that contain large-scale incorrect borrowings or other gross violations of scientific ethics. Most of these dissertations were defended before 2011, so their authors cannot be deprived of an academic degree by virtue of clause 2 of the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of September 24, 2013 No. 842.

Taking this into account, the abolition of control by the Higher Attestation Commission and the Ministry of Education and Science over the work of dissertation councils at federal and national research universities could lead to a sharp increase in the number of falsified dissertations. Thanks to the work of the Dissernet community and the principled position of the Higher Attestation Commission and the Ministry of Education and Science, which closed hundreds of unscrupulous dissertation councils and forced the remaining dissertation councils to strengthen control over the quality of dissertations, this flow has been significantly reduced in recent years.

Even in those areas of science where our country occupies a worthy place, and dissertation works correspond to the world level, the Higher Attestation Commission ensured the unification of requirements, set a fairly high standard for the quality of dissertation works, and also ensured that members of dissertation councils were scientists with high scientific indicators for a specific specialty. The Council believes that the complete abolition of control by the Higher Attestation Commission and the Ministry of Education and Science will negatively affect the quality of work of dissertation councils even in relatively prosperous fields of science.

To avoid these negative consequences, the Council considers it necessary:

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​​On May 15 and 17, 2017, a regular meeting of the Science Council under the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation was held in Moscow, during which several important documents were adopted on current issues in the scientific and educational sphere.

In particular, the Council in its statement called on the Russian Federal Property Fund to comply with the obligations assumed by the Russian government when merging the two funds. He proposed that the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences should receive a funding share of 15% of the total budget and that funding for projects in the humanities and social sciences should not be reduced. A complete list of accepted applications can be found on the website sovet-po-nauke.ru .

We are publishing a statement by the Council with proposals for rotation in a number of expert councils of the Higher Attestation Commission and overcoming conflicts of interest when considering dissertations that have raised complaints from the scientific community. In the next issue of the newspaper we will discuss the Council’s proposals for interaction with the scientific diaspora in the development of priority areas of Russian science.

On improving the system of certification of scientific personnel in the Russian Federation

The Science Council under the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation (hereinafter referred to as the Council) supports the efforts of the Ministry of Education and Science to improve the system of certification of scientific personnel in the Russian Federation. To successfully continue this work, the Council proposes that the Ministry of Education and Science take a number of measures that, in our opinion, will help eliminate difficulties in solving this important state task.

1. Introduce to the Government of the Russian Federation a proposal to amend the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of September 24, 2013 No. 842 “On the procedure for awarding academic degrees”, in which it is necessary to revise the wording of paragraph 70 “Regulations on the awarding of academic degrees” so that it does not further provide sending applications for deprivation of an academic degree to the same dissertation council in which the defense of the dissertation in question took place. Submitting an application to another dissertation council in the same specialty will avoid the inherent conflict of interest that exists with the dissertation council that has previously approved this dissertation work.
2. To rotate the composition of the expert councils of the Higher Attestation Commission on law, philosophy, sociology and cultural studies, pedagogy and psychology, industrial and regional economics, economic theory, finance and world economy, as well as political science and remove from their composition persons in respect of whom suspicions of their participation in the defense of falsified dissertations.
3. To carry out this work, the Council proposes that the Ministry of Education and Science create a commission of reputable scientists specializing in relevant fields of science, who should objectively consider the existing claims against members of the specified expert councils of the Higher Attestation Commission, regardless of whether the statute of limitations has expired for filing applications for deprivation of the academic degree of the authors of the mentioned dissertations . The presence in the ES of the Higher Attestation Commission of persons who have committed serious violations of scientific ethics is unacceptable, even if these violations took place more than ten years ago. This seriously compromises the entire system of awarding academic degrees on behalf of the Russian Federation.

The Council is ready to take part in this work.

Statement in support of the European University in St. Petersburg. It says, in particular, the following: “It seems that the actions of Rosobrnadzor employees in relation to the European University are of a deliberately formal nature, and adherence to strictly established rules without taking into account any additional circumstances is used to delay the resolution of the issue. This is all the more strange since Educational licenses from Rosobrnadzor are easily received by universities, the quality of education in which does not stand up to criticism. The Council calls on Rosobrnadzor to find a way out of the current situation that would allow the European University to continue its educational activities.” Below is the full text of the statement.

Statement by the Science Council under the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation in connection with the decisions of Rosobrnadzor on the European University in St. Petersburg, 10/03/2017

The Science Council under the Ministry of Education and Science (hereinafter referred to as the Council) is concerned about the latest decision of Rosobrnadzor to not issue an educational license to the European University in St. Petersburg. The European University in St. Petersburg is the country's leading educational and research center in several fields - in particular, political science, sociology and economics. Among its professors are the most famous and respected Russian political scientists and sociologists in the world, the quality of whose work is confirmed by the high level of scientific publications. Among EU graduates there are leading specialists in social sciences in Russia and in the world. Year after year, EU takes places in the top positions of various rankings of Russian universities specializing in the humanities and social sciences, including in the official rankings of the Ministry of Education and Science.

The refusal of a license to carry out educational activities to a leading research center in specialized scientific fields jeopardizes the development of social sciences in Russia. In the absence of the European University, St. Petersburg, the “second capital” of Russia, is deprived of intellectual leadership in a number of scientific fields. We understand that issuing an educational license involves a number of formal requirements. But we also expect that Rosobrnadzor in its work should be more based on the merits of the matter and take into account the quality of education and other achievements of the European University. The university is moving to a new building and not all requirements can be met overnight. It would be possible to note deficiencies and set a time limit within which they must be corrected.

It seems that the actions of Rosobrnadzor employees in relation to the European University are of a deliberately formal nature, and adherence to strictly established rules without taking into account any additional circumstances is used to delay the resolution of the issue. This is all the more strange since educational licenses from Rosobrnadzor are easily obtained by universities, the quality of education in which does not stand up to criticism. The Council calls on Rosobrnadzor to find a way out of this situation that would allow the European University to continue its educational activities.

The Science Council under the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation (hereinafter referred to as the Council) welcomes the increase in funding for FANO scientific institutes in accordance with the decrees of the President of the Russian Federation of May 7, 2012. This increase, we hope, will lead to an increase in the level of salaries of Russian researchers and will contribute to the development of academic science in Russia.

However, the Council expresses concern about how this additional funding was distributed: FANO management chose a formal, purely administrative method, where the only condition for receiving them was the geographical location of the organization. Institutes located in regions with high average salaries, primarily in Moscow, received large amounts of money regardless of the quality of their work, while many regional institutions, including those at a higher level, received nothing. The latter causes serious harm to the development of both science in the regions in general and the training of highly qualified scientific personnel, not to mention the obvious moral aspects.

The institutes that received additional funding had their government assignments proportionally increased; this was done mechanically, without taking into account the real possibility of fulfilling such an assignment. At the same time, not only the size, but also the content of the state task changed: in addition to journal articles, any forms of publications were no longer taken into account, while for articles only their quantity, but not their quality, was taken into account. Changes to the state assignment were made by directive, without any coordination with the institutes or the Russian Academy of Sciences - the management of the institutes was notified of these changes retroactively.

The Council has more than once proposed distributing additional funds for scientific research within the framework of a state task for a competition, and these proposals have been partially implemented in institutions under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education and Science. In 2015, the Council supported proposals for a line of competitions in academic institutes subordinate to FANO at the expense of additional funds for the implementation of the state task: (https://sovet-po-nauke.ru/info/22122015-proposal). These proposals were then approved by the FANO NCC, but their implementation was delayed due to lack of funds. Competitive distribution of funds would allow the best research groups and institutions to gain access to them, regardless of their geographical location, and could significantly accelerate the development of academic science in the country. The Council regrets that the opportunity that has now arisen to implement these proposals has not yet been used and calls on FANO to begin the competitive distribution of funds for additional government assignments.

The Council objects to the gross approach to recording scientific output and considers it necessary to take into account its quality. In view of this, as a temporary measure when calculating performance indicators of the state task in 2018, the Council recommends that articles published in publications included in the Web of science Core collection and Scopus databases be taken into account with a double or triple coefficient (with full understanding of the shortcomings of this method) , and journals identified as “predatory” should not be taken into account. Equal consideration of publications in leading journals indexed by international databases and low-level journals is in complete contradiction with the scientific policy pursued in recent years and means an unmotivated and unexpected change in the rules proposed and previously accepted by the scientific community.

The Council recalls the need for a differentiated approach to the assessment of scientific work in different disciplines (cf. Council statements https://sovet-po-nauke.ru/info/31032016-declaration_hum and https://sovet-po-nauke.ru/info/ 31032016-declaration_tech). Accordingly, the indicators for fulfilling the state task related to the number of publications should include not only journal articles, but also monographs, chapters in collective monographs, articles in conference proceedings and other forms of publications for those disciplines in which they are important. For example, according to the new rules, none of the works recognized as the main achievements of Russian humanities over the past five years (in particular, the 6-volume “World History” or “Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language”) can be taken into account in the report on the state assignment. Other forms of scientific work need to be taken into account.

The Council considers it necessary to develop co-financing of scientific research from various sources (of course, with the exception of double funding of the same work). Therefore, the Council considers the practice of excluding publications prepared under grants from the performance indicators of state assignments to be incorrect. In fact, in any publication by an institute employee, including those made under a grant, there is a certain share of the institute’s participation. This reality must be recognized by both FANO and foundations, and any article that indicates its author's affiliation with the institute must be included in reporting on the implementation of government assignments. Attracting external grant funding should not penalize institutions, but rather should be viewed solely as an indicator of their good performance.

The Council calls on FANO to reconsider its decision on the formation of the state task for 2018 and subsequent years and the indicators for its implementation, taking into account the proposals made above. The Council considers it necessary to make such decisions not in a directive manner, but after agreement with scientific institutes and the Russian Academy of Sciences.