A 2nd Call to Reform Russian Universities

Russian universities need change of tack

Author:

Renad Zhdanov

Exert:

Of the factors contributing to Russia's poor scientific performance (see, for example, A. Gorobets Nature 503, 39; 2013), the plight of the country's university professors stands out.

These professors are poorly paid; most are forced to supplement their earnings with other employment. Their typical annual teaching load of up to 1,000 hours is three to five times higher than that in universities elsewhere, leaving them little time for research or writing up their work. On top of this, professors are now under pressure from Russia's Ministry of Education and Science to publish two or three papers a year in international journals to help their universities to reach the top 200 in global rankings.

A Call to Reform xSoviet Universities

Research: Discard Soviet doctorate systems

Author:

Alexander Gorobets

Exert:

The research performance of most former Soviet states is still low compared with that of many Western countries. In my view, progress will be stifled as long as the archaic academic systems passed down from the former Soviet Union persist.

I have analysed the research performance of several of these nations on the basis of their per capita gross expenditure on research and development from 1998 to 2010 and their number of research publications from 1998 to 2012.