Russia
Supplemental Science Research Funding Promised to Universities
Despite increased funding in recent years, Russian science has not yet recovered from a near collapse in the 1990s and the consequent exodus of thousands of researchers to the West, according to a recent article in Nature News. Indeed, scientific output in Russia now lags that of China, India and South Korea. In an attempt to counter the decline and to foster science-driven innovation, the government is betting on its universities, promising to invest an extra 90 billion roubles (US$3 billion) into higher education and market-oriented university research over the next decade, on top of an annual university research budget of about 20 billion roubles.
But doubts remain about whether the initiatives can overcome weaknesses in universities and the long-standing dominance of the Russian Academy of Sciences [1], the largest basic research organization in the country. The academy, which employs more than 50,000 researchers in 480 institutes across the country, gets about 50 billion roubles per year in funding from the federal government. Yet it suffers from an ageing scientific workforce and poor links with the international scientific community. As Russia struggles to overcome its economic dependence on mineral exports, academy researchers are criticised for contributing too little to Russia’s transformation into a high-tech economy.
To strengthen neglected university research the government launched a competition in 2008 to transform a number of existing institutions into ‘national research universities’. On top of their regular funding from regional governments, these institutions will each receive an extra 1.8 billion roubles per year over the next decade from federal budgets for purchasing modern laboratory equipment. Twelve winners were selected last year, and a further dozen or so were chosen in April in the second round of the competition.
Last year, the government also created five ‘federal universities’ to bolster higher-education efforts in under-resourced areas; they will each receive around 380 million roubles annually in extra funding over the next three years. Separate budget lines were also set aside to support Moscow State University [2] and St Petersburg University, [3] the two largest and scientifically strongest institutes of higher education in the country.
Finally, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin announced a new grant program in early April worth a total of 12 billion roubles. It is aimed at attracting high-profile scientists from within the country and abroad to work at Russian universities. Winners, chosen for their research and publication record, will receive up to US$1 million per year to set up a team at a Russian university of their choice. A first call for proposals is being prepared, and the first grantees are to be selected later this year.
– Nature News [4]
April 27, 2010
Bribes Continue to Rule University Admissions
Despite the efforts of local and federal authorities to reduce the level of corruption in higher education, bribe taking in the admissions process appears to have increased in recent years. According to recent estimates, bribes paid for admission to Russian universities in 2009 totaled US$1 billion, or 40 percent more than in 2007, with the average bribe costing five times the rate of two years ago.
Experts believe that most of the traditional anti-corruption measures currently being implemented in Russia are useless and there is a need to change the whole system, beginning with the low salaries of professors that many say is the biggest reason why bribery is so rampant in the Russian system.
A unified national admissions examination was introduced in recent years to replace individual university admissions exams and help stamp out corruption, but analysts believe the corruption flows were not destroyed, simply redirected to the secondary school level.
– University World News [5]
May 16, 2010
Tajikistan
Court Orders University to Reverse Tuition Hike
A Tajik court has ruled in favor of students who were fighting a tuition hike at a university in northern Tajikistan, ordering fees to be lowered.
Judges in the case announced in May that a tuition increase of $100-$200 imposed on students at the Khujand University of Law, Trade, and Politics was illegal and should be returned to the students. In April, the scientific council at the university had decided to add about $200 to the tuition of law students and about $100 for all other students. The university has been ordered to return tuition at the university to the previous rates of $700 per year for all students.
Students at the university filed an official complaint with the court against the increased tuition in October. Khujand University lawyer Gadoboy Ahmadov said the school would appeal the court decision.
– RFE/RL [6]
May 7, 2010