International scientific collaboration in the post-communist countries: Modern trends and priorities

Science and Public Policy

Volumn 24, Issue 5, 1997, Pages 301-308

  Mirskaya, Elena Z ^a  

^a RUSSIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES   (Russian Federation)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION; POST-COMMUNISM; SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY; TECHNOLOGY POLICY;

EUROPE, (EAST); RUSSIAN FEDERATION;

EID: 0031429524     PISSN: 03023427     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1093/spp/24.5.301     Document Type: Article

References (25)

1. Since academic scientists' visits abroad largely proceeded along the lines of inter-academy equivalent exchange the concentration of the visits in the USSR Academy of Sciences was markedly lower than in the academies of smaller countries.
2. In the ex-Soviet republics the situation was even worse as compared to the centre, since Moscow had monopolised all the mechanisms of international contacts.
3. In the mid-1980s, the share of papers with foreign co-authorship in the highly egocentric US science amounted to 9.7%, while in the Soviet Union including all the COMECON relationships it was 2.5% (Science & Engineering Indicators, 1987 (NSB, Washington, 1987) pages 286-287). Actually for the USSR this proportion was even lower since the cited figures are based on the Science Citation Index scanning only high-rank Soviet journals and not covering second-rate editions.
4. Thus, until the mid-1980s, the number of Polish scientists visiting the USA annually was from five to ten times as great as the number of Soviet scientists (Science & Engineering Indicators. 1987, page 285). Some Hungarian scientists also have been involved in international co-operation in the scientific community for a long time.
5. Some initiatives to keep and to revive the previous collaboration between former participants were made, but the acute shortage of science financing in all ex-socialist countries opposed these intentions. The real level of preserved East-East scientific co-operation is very low.
6. Scientific results of the Network (1993-1996, supervisors of studies: Renate Mayntz, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies, FRG and Peter Weingart, University of Bielefeld, FRG) are presented in many books and articles, such as: R Mayntz, U Schimank and P Weingart (editors), Transformation mittel- und ostertopaisher Wissenschaftssystems (Leske and Budrich, Opladen, 1995); special issue of Social Studies of Science, 25(4), 1995.
7. Scientific results of the Network (1993-1996, supervisors of studies: Renate Mayntz, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies, FRG and Peter Weingart, University of Bielefeld, FRG) are presented in many books and articles, such as: R Mayntz, U Schimank and P Weingart (editors), Transformation mittel- und ostertopaisher Wissenschaftssystems (Leske and Budrich, Opladen, 1995); special issue of Social Studies of Science, 25(4), 1995.
8. Only three from 37 investigated institutes belonged to humanities and they were absolutely different (institute for economics in Russia, institute for philosophy in Czech Republic and institute for native language in Lithuania). The impossibility of making comparisons among them is only reason for not including them in the article.
9. The list of questions on international collaboration for case-studies included: • Has the involvement of your institute in international research interactions increased during the recent three or four years? In what terms and how much? A general trend should be illustrated by quantitative data on: publications abroad; participation in international scientific meetings; participation in international research projects; international and foreign grants awarded; visits of foreign scientists to the institute. What is the basis on which the international collaboration mostly expands - due to interactions between individuals, research teams or institutes? • How do you manage to obtain international and foreign grants and contracts: by the personal initiative of your institute colleagues, institutional activities of the governing structures, or the initiative of your foreign partners in research? Do you anticipate a positive activity of CEE (author please supply interpretation) institutes? It must be noted, however, that common international interactions originating from the political and economic transformations further evolved into one of their motive forces and require a much greater special attention.
10. The notion 'western' usually embraces all advanced countries including Japan.
11. Dubna is a city of science, founded in 1965 as the first international centre for nuclear research for the socialist countries. It played an important role in the world progress of physics and now Dubna's Institute for Nuclear Research is one of the relatively well-preserved scientific centres.
12. It is pertinent to note that in 1995-1994, the Russian Academy of Sciences, seeking to restore and strengthen its relationships with the countries of Central and East Europe, signed new agreements on inter-academy exchange with the academies of Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Czech Republic. In 1994, the greatest scientific exchange was with the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic (76 man-weeks), the Polish Academy of Sciences (72 man-weeks), and the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (60 man-weeks) (see Godovoj otchet Presidiuma RAN, Nauchno-organizatsionnaya deyatelnost' v 1994 g. (RAN, Moscow, 1995) page 93).
13. In all the comparisons, even though the formally recorded 'onset' of the transformation process varies insignificantly for the countries under comparison, the same cannot be said about the actual duration and the state of the process. In some countries (such as Hungary) a new system of international co-operation is long-established, while in others (such as Romania or Belorussia) it is still in the initial phase.
14. Countries mentioned as participants of the network project are not included in the list.
15. Only in the Slovak institutes does an application for a joint research or a grant require approval by the institute scientific board and the head.
16. The significance of the administrative effort of the institute heads was reported only by the Romanian respondents; the importance of the scientific authority and of the personal position of the institute leaders was emphasised also by the groups of Belorussian and Czech scientists. The dependence of successful international interactions on a correct scientific strategy implemented by the institute heads was indicated only in the Latvian and Polish studies.
17. A total dependence on foreign partners and organisations on this point is more painfully perceived by the scientists of the former Soviet Union, especially by those who previously enjoyed state support and now experience difficulties.
18. The international brain-drain is a specific part of international scientific collaboration or at least a similar phenomenon. However, this interesting topic represents a separate problem area which was not investigated in the empirical study. Therefore it remained outside the framework of our analysis.
19. We have mentioned only those programmes which were mentioned by the respondents. Naturally, they were the programmes disposing of ample means. During the early 1990s a number of important initiatives were taken by the western scientific public and different organisations to support basic science in East Europe. Later on, joint suggestions and programmes were given by East and West European academies in ALLEA, the network of European national academies of science, humanities and social sciences, in ICSU's (International Council of Scientific Unions) COMCSEE (the Special Committee on Science in Central and Eastern Europe and former Soviet Union), and so on. The list of German and European support programmes for 1993 included 40 items (Hrsg. W Adamczak, Information zur Fördernung von Wissenschaft und Forschung zwischem Ost und West (Ost-West Wissenschaftszentrum, Kassel, 1993). Russian guide of West organisations realising programmes of support and co-operation for Russian scientists consists of 179 appellations (Mezhdunarodnaya podderzhka rossijskoj nauki i vysshej shkoly (Nauka, Moscow, 1995).
20. We have mentioned only those programmes which were mentioned by the respondents. Naturally, they were the programmes disposing of ample means. During the early 1990s a number of important initiatives were taken by the western scientific public and different organisations to support basic science in East Europe. Later on, joint suggestions and programmes were given by East and West European academies in ALLEA, the network of European national academies of science, humanities and social sciences, in ICSU's (International Council of Scientific Unions) COMCSEE (the Special Committee on Science in Central and Eastern Europe and former Soviet Union), and so on. The list of German and European support programmes for 1993 included 40 items (Hrsg. W Adamczak, Information zur Fördernung von Wissenschaft und Forschung zwischem Ost und West (Ost-West Wissenschaftszentrum, Kassel, 1993). Russian guide of West organisations realising programmes of support and co-operation for Russian scientists consists of 179 appellations (Mezhdunarodnaya podderzhka rossijskoj nauki i vysshej shkoly (Nauka, Moscow, 1995).
21. Only in the Latvian institutes did foreign contracts account for 16-17% of funding.
22. Thus publications abroad accounted for 25 of the 37 (1991), 17 of the 24 (1992), 23 of the 28 (1993), and 18 of the 29 (1994) publications.
23. Besides the foregoing general considerations borne in mind by scientists, real incentives are also to be found in some countries: in Poland such publications entail extra payments for a higher status; in Hungary, only publications abroad are taken into account in evaluation of the applications for national grants.
24. Sending to a foreign journal of an article previously unpublished in a Soviet edition required a resolution of an expert committee stating that "the article contained nothing new and interesting".
25. The general quantity of scientific publications diminished. For instance, the annual numbers of books and brochures were decreasing from 103 in 1991, to 72 in 1993, 73 in 1993 and 68 in 1994.