Russia’s State Policy on the Development of Science at Universities: Lessons from the 90s

The article discusses the influence of state programs on research development in Russian universities in the first post-Soviet decade. After the USSR collapse the conditions for doing research in Russia worsened significantly due to a sharp reduction in budget funding with unessential other sources of support. Research conducted in higher education institutions was a small fraction of the entire system, and involvement in science was not among the primary activities of universities, except for a small number of leading universities. At the same time, mostly higher education institutions were responsible for training of highly qualified personnel. This discrepancy posed a threat for the science system. At the state level, a number of separate targeted programs was initiated, with an emphasis on fundamental research in universities. The aim of the article is to identify and systematize, in the framework of these state programs, the main factors affected the development of science in higher education institutions. The research methods include literature review, analysis of statistical data, and interpretations of surveys conducted in the 90s. It is shown that the programs’ results were modest and did not change the scale of university science in the country. The hampering factors were associated with regulatory and legal restrictions, sub-optimal choice of areas for support, underfunding and dispersion of financial support, and insufficient consideration of the former research specialization of universities. At the same time, these programs gave impetus to the discussion of the concepts of research universities, which later were implemented

Risks of 5-100 Project: Perceptions of Academic Staff of Different Ages

The implementation of the 5-100 Project in Russian universities, aimed at improving their competitiveness through adaptation to world standards and inclusion in the international educational environment has produced some quantitative and qualitative results. Despite the undoubted achievements of the universities participating in the Project, the mechanisms of its implementation have revealed some problematic areas that in the end can primarily affect the young generations of scholars. Therefore, assessing the perception of the 5-100 Project by scholars of different ages is important. The purpose of this article is to analyze, through the lens of a generational approach, the risks associated with the two aspects of universities’ activities. First, the principles of funding under the 5-100 Project and second, the approaches applied for assessment of academic performance. The analysis is based on the results of semi-structured interviews with scientific and pedagogical staff at five universities that participated in the 5-100 Project (108 respondents). We analyzed the answers of respondents in three age groups: young scientists, middle-aged and older scholars. The study showed that there are areas where representatives of all generations are unanimous and areas where the young academics have perceptions different from other generations. There is unanimity in the attitudes to principles of financing practiced in the universities. The younger generation turned to be the most sensitive to insufficient spending on research equipment. In terms of performance evaluation indicators, the younger generation demonstrated the greatest adaptability to the system of formal quantitative assessment, while noting its dysfunctional effects. They have also revealed that it is easier for them to change jobs than for other generations of scholars

The Supplementary Vocational Education for Advanced Technological Development: the Contribution og Higher Education Instituts

Статья представляет собой исследование сложившегося и перспективного рынка дополнительного профессионального образования в России, в том числе по ключевым направлениям технологического развития и места вузов на этих рынках. Рынок дополнительного профессионального образования (ДПО) является высококонкурентным и постоянно развивается за счет роста числа провайдеров образовательных программ и курсов, а также появления новых образовательных форматов (онлайн-курсов, дистанционного образования). В ближайшем будущем основная конкуренция на рынке внебюджетного дополнительного профессионального образования будет разворачиваться между вузами за средства компаний (организаций), которые повышают квалификацию своих сотрудников в области перспективных технологических направлений. В связи с этим цель написания статьи заключается в оценке масштабов рынка ДПО, в частности, в оценке его финансового выражения, места в нем вузов, а также в определении перспективных направлений и форм развития ДПО. Исследование базируется на данных официальной статистики, мониторингов и результатах выборочных опросов. Ситуация, которая сложилась в сфере ДПО, рассмотрена на макро- и микроуровне. Сначала определены тренды на российском рынке ДПО, включая финансовые параметры, типологию слушателей, сравнительную популярность разных видов ДПО, место вузов как поставщиков ДПО. На микроуровне анализируется масштаб и параметры спроса на рынке ДПО по перспективным технологическим направлениям. Исследование показало, что пока в России предложение со стороны вузов превышает спрос, хотя рынок внебюджетного ДПО достаточно объемный, пятикратно превышающий бюджетное ДПО. Проведенная оценка сегмента рынка, специализирующегося на перспективных цифровых технологиях (включая «сквозные»), показала, что этот рынок достаточно узкий в сравнении с общими объемами внебюджетного ДПО, на нем доминирует ограниченное число вузов, с которыми могут начать конкурировать ведущие компании, развивающие корпоративное ДПО (особенно в области наук о данных). Перспективы развития данного рынка связаны как с появлением новых форм дистанционного образования, так и с различными видами кооперационных и сетевых программ ДПО, разрабатываемых и реализуемых вузами совместно с компаниями. При этом дополнительный стимул развитию ДПО могут дать новые государственные программы и национальные проекты, такие как «Цифровая экономика Российской Федерации», «Новые возможности для каждого», национальный проект «Наука», а также Центры компетенций Национальной технологической инициативы. Ограничения исследования связаны с условностью и допущениями в расчетах ввиду отсутствия детальной информации о финансовых аспектах внебюджетного ДПО. Результаты исследования могут представлять интерес для специалистов, занимающихся проблемами образования, для высших учебных заведений, развивающих программы ДПО, а также компаний, заинтересованных в развитии собственной системы дополнительного образования, включая их кооперациию с вузами.The article is a study of the current and prospective markets for supplementary vocational education in Russia, including the key areas of technological development and the place of universities at these markets. The market of supplementary vocational education is highly competitive, gradually developing thanks to the growth in the number of providers of educational programmes and courses, as well as due to the emergence of new educational formats (online courses, distance education). In the nearest future, the main competition at the market of extra-budgetary supplementary vocational education will be among the universities for the funds of companies (organizations) that improve the skills of their employees in the field of promising technological areas. The article in this regard aims at assessing the scale of the supplementary vocational education market, in particular its financial aspect, the place of universities in it, as well as the identification of promising directions and forms of the supplementary vocational education development. The study is based on official statistics, monitoring, and sample surveys. The situation that has developed in the sphere of supplementary vocational education is considered at the macro- and micro-levels. First, there have been identified trends at the Russian supplementary vocational education market, including financial parameters, the typology of students, the relative popularity of various types of supplementary vocational education, and the place of universities as supplementary vocational education providers. At the micro-level, the scale and parameters of demand at the supplementary vocational education market for promising technological areas are analyzed. The study showed that nowadays the supply from Russia universities exceeds the demand, although the market for extra-budgetary supplementary vocational education is quite large, five times larger than the budgetary supplementary vocational education. An assessment of the market segment specializing in promising, including cross-cutting digital technologies, showed that this market is quite narrow compared to the total extra-budgetary supplementary vocational education, and there dominate a limited number of universities to be competed with by leading companies developing corporate supplementary vocational education (especially in data science). Prospects for the development of this market are associated not only with new appearing forms of distance education, but also with various types of cooperative and network supplementary vocational education programmes of cooperative university-and-company development and implementation. At the same time, new state programmes and national projects (such as «The Digital Economy of the Russian Federation», «New Opportunities for Everyone», the national project «Science», and Competence Centres of the National Technology Initiative) can provide an additional impetus to the development of supplementary vocational education. The limitations of the study are related to the conventions and assumptions in the calculations connected with lacking detailed information on the financial aspects of the extra-budgetary supplementary vocational education. The results of the study may be of interest for specialists dealing with educational problems, for higher educational institutions developing supplementary vocational education programmes, as well as for companies interested in developing their own system of supplementary education and in cooperation with universities

Partnering Universities and Companies in Russia: Effects of New Government Initiative

The paper presents the results of 2-year survey conducted in 2011-2012 among Russian universities and companies who jointly implement R&D projects aimed at development of high-tech manufacturing. The joint projects represent a new government instrument to stimulate the development of linkages between universities and companies by giving matching grants for R&D to companies with obligation to order R&D to a university-partner. The objectives of the survey included analysis of motivation for cooperation both from side of universities and companies; primary effects and side-effects of such initiative; changes that may be introduced to the government regulations concerning matching grants. Total 38 teams were surveyed. Our findings show that major motivations from side of universities were access to new practical research tasks from companies, selection of most competitive teams of researchers capable to work with companies, and strengthening reputation in business environment. Companies were interested in getting government funding in order to solve their technological problems; to strengthen, due cooperation with universities, their research capacity, and to use modern research infrastructure located at universities. The analysis allowed identification of the major effects of the matching grants mechanism. They included: strengthening of university orientation towards solving practical tasks which are of interest to business; institutionalization of relations between universities and business in the sphere of innovation activity; broadening of research cooperation and the formation of research consortiums; harmonization of research and educational tasks in universities, and orientation of the parties towards continuing cooperation in the innovation sphere

Cooperation between Russian research organizations and industrial companies: factors and problems

The study is focused on the cooperation of Russian companies with research organizations in implementing R&D projects during technological innovation. Taking into account behavioral changes, authors carry out a micro-level analysis based on empirical data of executive survey of over 600 Russian industrial firms (2011—2012) and about 350 research organizations and universities (2012). The authors emphasize the key factors of firms’ demand for outsourcing R&D reveal the main barriers to the development of university-industry cooperation and their particularities for different cooperation actors. The analysis shows that there is a positive relation between the size of a company and R&D outsourcing. As for the factor of age, the highest cooperation activity of Russian firms is observed among enterprises founded over 20 years ago. As far as concernes cooperation activity of research organizations, large ones are significantly more likely to cooperate with business. A common prerequisite for research organizations' R&D cooperation with business is sufficient academic ranking. Business and science evaluate differently various obstacles to effective cooperation. For firms, the main problems are the inflated costs of national R&Ds, insufficient research organizations’ orientation at company needs, and low quality of developments. As for representatives of research organizations, they mention as barriers primarily the lack of companies' receptivity to innovation and inadequate information about promising developments. Businesses are more optimistic about cooperation with science if they already have a relevant experience of interaction. In the case of research organizations we observe a different pattern: most problems seem more significant to organizations conducting R&D in business interests

Technological Leapfrogging: Theory and International ICT Practices

A technological leapfrogging is a discrete stage in the development of a country or industry, representing the replacement of the previous technology with a fundamentally new one. The concept of technological leapfrogging has been developing since the mid 1980s, but still there is no generally accepted definition. The interest in the conditions and structure of technological leaps grew when it became clear that lagging countries and industries could develop rapidly by continuous imitation and innovation, jumping over obsolete technologies and avoiding investment in previous technological generations.The article relies on theoretical studies of leapfrogging and international experience in the development of information and communication technologies (ICT) for analysis of the conditions necessary for technological leaps. The ICT play a recognized role in economic growth and social development. Today, the catching-up countries have ambitious plans for ICT development, including next-generation fixed communications networks, 5G standard, e-commerce services and e-government.Based on the analysis of global experience, we define conditions for a successful technological leapfrogging in Russia and discuss the potential for its implementation. In the conditions of sanctions, it is important not just to reverse-engineer, but to make a technological leap in order to ensure technological self-sufficiency. Russia has partially created conditions for 5G technological leapfrogging by accumulating adaptation potential in terms of technology, equipment and personnel; developing science-industry cooperation; and creating conditions for favorable socio-technological climate

Science under Sanctions: the Experience of Iranian Universities

В исследовательской статье анализируется развитие науки в университетах Ирана в условиях многолетних санкций, а также опыт, который может быть полезным для российских вузов. В центре исследования – этапы, цели и результаты научной политики Ирана, касающейся университетов. В работе предложена авторская типология санкций, затрагивающих науку в университетах, и рассмотрены меры их преодоления. Данная типология применима и к российским университетам. Практики работы иранских университетов в условиях санкций верифицированы и уточнены по данным экспертного опроса, проведенного среди исследователей иранского происхождения, работающих в российских вузах. Анализ научной политики Ирана показал, что она ориентировалась на высокие показатели количественного роста: в первую очередь, публикационной активности и вхождения университетов в международные рейтинги. Затем акценты сместились на усиление практической отдачи от науки в университетах и развитие международной кооперации. Университеты смогли нарастить число публикаций, однако для страны характерен «инновационный парадокс», при котором научные результаты вносят недостаточный вклад в экономический рост. Санкции выступают одним из сдерживающих факторов, тем более, что университеты должны самостоятельно находить способы их преодоления. Важную роль играет иранская научная диаспора, сложившаяся, в основном, в странах с развитой наукой – в первую очередь, в США. Именно через диаспору университетам удается оставаться включенными в международное научное сотрудничество, хотя одновременно это и способствует «утечке умов». Статья может быть интересна исследователям, изучающим проблемы развития науки и университетов в условиях санкций, а также менеджерам университетов, занимающимся вопросами международного научного сотрудничества.The research article analyzes how science in Iranian universities has evolved during years of sanctions, and what Russian universities can learn from this experience. The study focuses on the periods, goals, and outcomes of the state science policy in Iran toward universities. The author has developed the typology of sanctions affecting scientific research in universities and systematized measures used to overcome them. This typology applies to Russian universities as well. The practices of Iranian universities aimed at overcoming sanctions have been verified and clarified using the data from an expert survey conducted among researchers of Iranian origin working in Russian universities. The analysis has shown that the government policy was oriented towards achieving quantitative goals, related mostly to publication activity and the inclusion of universities in international rankings. Later the emphasis shifted to strengthening the practical impact of university science, as well as to the development of international cooperation. Universities were able to increase the publication output but barely contributed to economic growth. Sanctions are the limiting factor, especially since universities had to find by themselves ways to overcome them. Iranian academic diaspora, especially in the United States, played an important role in this process, and Iranian universities manage to remain included in international scientific cooperation. The article may be of interest to researchers studying the problems of scientific development under sanctions, as well as to university managers dealing with international scientific cooperation

Research Policy in Leading Russian Universities: Effects of ‘New Managerialism’

В обзорной статье рассматривается влияние системы управления, известной как «новый менеджериализм», на результативность научных исследований в университетах. Концепция «нового менеджериализма» предполагает опору на количественные показатели в системе принятия решений. В работе обобщаются зарубежные и российские подходы к оценке научных достижений в университетах, а также анализируются системы контрактов с преподавателями и деятельность центров превосходства как инструменты «нового менеджериализма», которые могут влиять на результативность научных исследований. На этой основе определяются преимущества и ограничения инструментов, используемых в российских исследовательских университетах. Анализ зарубежных исследований показал, что оценки научной результативности становятся комплексными, проводятся на регулярной основе, но с интервалом в несколько лет. Контрактная система опосредованно влияет на результативность научных исследований, однако не устанавливает жестких требований по количественным индикаторам. Наконец, центры превосходства, получающие дополнительное финансирование для ускорения производства научных знаний, в большинстве случаев выполняют эту функцию, однако эффект Матфея автоматически не действует. Проявление «нового менеджериализма» в российских университетах анализировалось на примере программы создания лабораторий под руководством ведущих ученых мира, Проекта «5-100», а также принятой системы контрактов с преподавателями с точки зрения влияния на результативность их научных исследований. Показано, что все инструменты способствовали наращиванию публикационной активности, в том числе в журналах первого квартиля, однако появились признаки пределов ее роста. Повышение результативности научной деятельности университетов может идти в направлении изменения системы ее оценки путем расширения перечня показателей, характеризующих результаты научных исследований, в том числе их вклад в социально-экономическое развитие страны, и увеличения удельного веса долгосрочных контрактов.This article analyzes the effects of «new managerialism» on the results of scientific research in universities. New managerialism implies decision-making based on quantitative indicators. This paper summarizes the international and Russian approaches to the assessment of scientific achievements at universities. It analyzes instruments for fostering scientific productivity, such as contracts with the faculty and the formation of centers of excellence, to identify the advantages and limitations of tools currently used at Russian research universities. Our analysis of international literature showed that evaluation of research results is becoming more complex as it is conducted regularly, not annually. The contract system indirectly affects the results of research but does not contain any strict quantitative requirements. Centers of excellence, which receive additional funding to accelerate the production of scientific knowledge, achieve this goal in most cases, but this system does not automatically create the Matthew effect. The article analyzes the specific characteristics of new managerialism in Russian universities by using the example of a program aimed at the creation of laboratories led by prominent scientists, the Project 5-100, and the system of contracts with the faculty. The study has revealed that these tools have contributed to the increase in publication activity. However, there are indications that this growth has reached its limits. Prospects of further development can reside in the use of a wider range of indicators to characterize the impact of scientific results on social and economic development and in increasing the share of long-term contracts.Статья подготовлена при финансовой поддержке РФФИ в рамках конкурса для подготовки и опубликования научных обзорных статей («Экспансия»), проект № 19-111-50170 «Научная политика в ведущих российских университетах: эффекты “нового менеджериализма”».This research was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research, grant for preparation of review articles («Expansion»), project No 19-111-50170 «Research Policy in Leading Russian Universities: Effects of “New Managerialism”»