In Russia, It’s Far From All About the Money
Posted by David Bruggeman on January 29, 2012
I recommend this recent Washington Post piece on the research enterprise in Russia, or as the author suggests, what’s left of it. While research spending has been tripled since 2001, the paper output of Russian researchers has remained steady. The article describes a system of competing scientific institutions, bureaucratic restrictions, and limited funding that has led to a diaspora of many Russian researchers. As one of its key scientific institutes was once fair game for developers, and its mighty space apparatus stumbling, it does not look good.
While making parallels with other countries in this case is a bit of a stretch, I think it worth noting that the neglect of scientific infrastructure, along with the resistance of long-standing institutions to change, are phenomena not unique to Russia. This reaction of a nation to a radical shift in circumstances might serve as an object lesson to us.
