FROM WHERE I SIT

Serfs up
The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAN) produces the majority of Russian research but are its members, set to vote for a new president, serfs? The election is going to take place at the end of this month. The incumbent, Yuri Osipov, a77-year-old, has been in post since 1991. RAN was founded in 1724. Its 11 departments oversee dozens of research institutions and it has around 500 full members and 700 member- correspondents, as well as 50,000 doctors and candidates of science. Its annual budget is 93billion rubles (1.9 billion). The election is being heatedly discussed in hundreds of Russian language internet blogs, forum posts and comments. Some relate to a recent post by Leonid Radzikhovski, a prominent and outspoken Russian journalist. In a blog posted on 29March, he called RAN members serfs whose opinions go unheard. Many found this comparison offensive, arguing that RANs scientists will contribute to the election decision, enjoy a cademic freedom, can pursue various opportunities domestically and abroad, and are paid decent salaries. Others describe Mr Radzikhovskis o bservation as remarkablyaccurate and cite numerous examples of academic servitude and the absence of decisionmaking power among RAN members in the trenches. Since the body is so big, it is a challenge to hear every members voice. However, the first stage of the election process allows each department and research centre to present their candidates for the presidency. Eventually, a forum consisting of 1,200 academics and member- correspondents chooses a president from 12candidates by majority vote (although the choice also has to be approved by Russias president). One of the candidates is RANs only living Nobel laureate, Jores Ivanovitch Alferov, who is 83. His campaign is reported to be built on a popular strategy of uniting to fight the common enemy. This enemy is the Russian minister of science and education, Dmitry Livanov. Since he was appointed last May, Dr Livanov has questioned RANs efficacy. He calls its structure and management style archaic and thinks that it is interfering with its members ability to produce world-class research. Dr Livanov argues that in the worlds scientific powerhouses, universities and their research centres successfully perform the role RAN plays in Russia. Many from the cyber community have joined Professor Alferovs united front because they worry that Dr Livanov could ruin RAN, destroy almost 300years of research tradition and undermine Russian science. They argue that the ministers statements pay lip service to the US monopoly in research, which they argue is underpinned by Thomson Reuters citation data. They assert that Russia has always taken its own unique route in s cientific research: indeed, during the Soviet era, RAN nurtured 15Nobel laureates; and during the two decades after the collapse of the USSR, thousands of Russian researchers were scientifically advanced enough to secure research appointments abroad. Yet Dr Livanov has a small band of online supporters. They criticise RANs upper echelons for research passivity and for supposedly favouring political and monetary benefits over scientific priorities. They also argue that RANs bureaucratic and financial structure could lead to its demise as a competitive member of the world research community. Since 1724, RAN has shown both stability and the ability to adapt. The election could open a new chapter in its history or signal its end. Natalia Rekhter is assistant professor in the health services administration program at Lincoln College, Illinois.