Gender Balance of University Professors: European Experience and Its Relevance for Russia

The article compares measures to support female teachers in universities in the UK, Germany and Russia with gender statistics from the OECD. An ambiguous correlation was revealed: the broader the measures to support  female university teachers, the lower their share in higher education. The purpose of the work is to identify the reasons for this relationship. Within the framework of the hypothesis, the following thesis was put forward: high  competition in higher education affects the decrease in the proportion of female teachers and forces the states to introduce a wide range of support tools to achieve gender balance. Comparison of the specifics of the spheres of higher education in the studied countries: R&D expenditures in the field of higher education and the working conditions of teachers (average salary, mobility, a specificity of contracts, hours worked, career opportunities) made it possible to identify the level of competition in universities. The obtained results confirmed the hypothesis about the direct influence of the level of competition on the share of female teachers in higher education. In conclusion, the relevance of the experience of European countries in building a gender balance among university teachers for Russia is considered. It is concluded that significant differences in the specifics of the sphere of higher education in Russia and the studied European countries, as well as the dominant share of female university teachers in our country, are not a sufficient reason for refusing to study foreign experience. On the contrary, the measures taken by the Government and the Ministry of  Education and Science of Russia in recent years, if successfully implemented,  will significantly increase the level of competition in the field of domestic higher education and the issue of gender balance will become relevant. In order to prevent a possible generational gap among female  university teachers and the aggravation of the problem of gender balance in the future, it is necessary to study and adapt foreign experience, avoiding mistakes

Structural stability of intermetallic phases in the Zr–Sn system

A thermodynamic description of the intermetallic compounds in the Zr–Sn binary system has been obtained using total energy calculations by means of the Vienna ab initio simulation package. Our calculations show that hexagonal compounds Zr5Sn4 and Zr5Sn3 are the most stable phases in the Zr–Sn binary system. Their high stability is found to be due to hybridization of the Sn 5p with Zr 4d electronic states. Based on the calculated energies, the conclusion is made that Zr substitution on the Sn sites takes place in the Zr Sn phase, which accounts for the unusual stoichiometry of this Cr3Si structure type compound

Russian higher education under sanctions: a constructivist perspective

Constructivists have convincingly shown through norm theory and multiple case studies that ideas can be more influential than material conditions in determining political and social outcomes. This paper analyses the capacity of norms to resist shock events that bring about a radical change in material conditions and demonstrates that significant disruptions in the context of norm implementation can lead to normative U-turns. The authors theorise norm backtracking based on the case of the Russian higher education sector, revealing how the 2022 armed-conflict in Ukraine and Western sanctions have affected the implementation of the norm of world-class universities in Russia. The findings of the qualitative case study based on 24 expert interviews suggest that although internalised norms can survive shifts in material conditions, the need to readapt them to an evolving context and to new political goals results in their distortion. The international norm on world-class universities, implemented in Russia through Project 5-100 and the Priorities 2030 initiative, is facing exceptional challenges which have led so far not to the rejection of the norm but to its remodelling to meet new objectives. The impact of Russia’s normative “redesign” in the sphere of higher education also ushers in a new stage in the life of the international norm on world-class universities marked by a rejection of the Western-centric model

“That’ll Teach Them”: Investigating the Soft Power Conversion Model through the Case of Russian Higher Education

While the international environment remains characterized by the desire of states to strengthen their position, the literature has revealed a growing preference for soft power instruments over military intervention. Higher education has been repurposed as a tool to achieve foreign policy goals, with many states embracing the international norm on world-class universities in an attempt to improve their international competitiveness and their image abroad. This paper considers the soft power conversion model of higher education and attempts to determine its effectiveness through a case study devoted to Russian Higher Education. A survey of foreign students starting their studies and of another finishing their studies in three leading Russian universities reveals that receiving a higher education in Russia may contribute to aligning students’ positions with the Russian perspective on international issues diffused in these universities as was confirmed by surveying a control group of Russian students. These preliminary findings suggest that the benefits of internationalizing national higher education systems are not just reserved to the norm initiators (US, UK) but extend to second wave norm adopters (Russia, China)

Implementation of International Norms in Russia: The Case of Higher Education

This article analyses the reasons why Russia adopts foreign norms in the sphere of higher education, looking at how isomorphism, Transnational Advocacy Networks and the global market for education have brought about the country’s integration in the global network of universities. It investigates how Russia strives to adopt international and western educational norms by adhering to the Bologna process and launching projects such as 5-100 to reinforce the competitiveness of its universities on the global stage, but remains concerned about security and national identity issues. These fears have resulted in the government prioritizing the adherence to formal criteria while preserving the historical content of its higher education, thus leading to a dichotomy between substance and structure. This mismatch between the organization of higher education and its content leads to an ineffective implementation of international norms but also to significant disruptions in the existing system. Attempts to levy the advantages of both systems have had opposite results. Indeed, the risks of sudden change are multifold: the sudden “catch-up” mode leads to resistance and to a decline in the overall quality of education in those universities lacking the institutions to support the fast tempo of change. The authors outline the benefits of an incremental adaptation to the international higher education system and the need to adjust international norms to local conditions, by building off the assets of the country’s Soviet heritage. The benefits of involving Transnational Experience and Experience Networks in the implementation of international norms are also reviewed

Differential sensitivity of membrane-associated pyrophosphatases to inhibition by diphosphonates and fluoride delineates two classes of enzyme

Abstract1,1-Diphosphonate analogs of pyrophosphate, containing an amino or a hydroxyl group on the bridge carbon atom, are potent inhibitors of the H+-translocating pyrophosphatases of chromatophores prepared from the bacterium Rhodospirillum rubrum and vacuolar membrane vesicles prepared from the plant Vigna radiata. The inhibition constant for aminomethylenediphosphonate, which binds competitively with respect to substrate, is below 2 μM. Rat liver mitochondrial pyrophosphatase is two orders of magnitude less sensitive to this compound but extremely sensitive to imidodiphosphate. By contrast, fluoride is highly effective only against the mitochondrial pyrophosphatase. It is concluded that the mitochondrial pyrophosphatase and the H+-pyrophosphatases of chromatophores and vacuolar membranes belong to two different classes of enzyme

Good-Practice Non-Radioactive Assays of Inorganic Pyrophosphatase Activities

Inorganic pyrophosphatase (PPase) is a ubiquitous enzyme that converts pyrophosphate (PPi) to phosphate and, in this way, controls numerous biosynthetic reactions that produce PPi as a byproduct. PPase activity is generally assayed by measuring the product of the hydrolysis reaction, phosphate. This reaction is reversible, allowing PPi synthesis measurements and making PPase an excellent model enzyme for the study of phosphoanhydride bond formation. Here we summarize our long-time experience in measuring PPase activity and overview three types of the assay that are found most useful for (a) low-substrate continuous monitoring of PPi hydrolysis, (b) continuous and fixed-time measurements of PPi synthesis, and (c) high-throughput procedure for screening purposes. The assays are based on the color reactions between phosphomolybdic acid and triphenylmethane dyes or use a coupled ATP sulfurylase/luciferase enzyme assay. We also provide procedures to estimate initial velocity from the product formation curve and calculate the assay medium's composition, whose components are involved in multiple equilibria