, dr. physics and mathematics Sci., Professor of the Department of Astronomy of the Faculty of Mathematics and Mechanics of St. Petersburg State University, told TRV-Nauka about scientific grants at the university.
Applications for research grants, support for participation in conferences, etc. are part of the SPbU development program (http://csr.spbu.ru/archives/category/programm) and are submitted through the website of the Department of Scientific Research (UNI) of SPbU: http ://csr.spbu.ru/.
UNI competitions are called "Events": from Events 1 before Activities 8. The issue of research grants mainly relates to activities 2 and 5.
Activity 2- this is a kind of analogue of the competition "a" of initiative projects of the RFBR. At the same time, there are no restrictions on the number of SPbU employees participating in the project (scientific topic). Applications for the competition are submitted through the UNI website, and there is much less writing than in many other grant systems. What is nice is that the results of the competition become known after about 2 months. Grant amounts range from 500,000 to 3 million rubles. (very rare) per year. The term of project financing is from one to three years. These are the advantages of the system adopted at St. Petersburg State University. Now for the cons.
Firstly, this system is only for SPbU employees. However, this can be circumvented by registering employees of other institutions at St Petersburg University for a share of the rate and registering them on the website of the Department of Scientific Research.
Secondly, this system is designed to completely replace the previous system of science funding at St. Petersburg State University. Previously, the university had permanent research topics, the funding of which usually lasted 5 years, then the funding was almost automatically extended. Now, all themes are competitive, and if the term of the topic is over, the participants again apply for the competition (possibly with a change in the composition of the participants and the project leader).
The problem is that if the topic is not supported for a new term, then all researchers who are at rates funded on this topic will lose this funding completely.
It is not easy to evaluate this innovation unambiguously. On the one hand, this corresponds to the general trend towards predominantly competitive funding of science. On the other hand, the usual division of funding for scientific topics into a permanent and competitive part is disappearing. Added to this is the difficulty of redistributing the participation of researchers in topics. That is, if the work was funded, for example, on the topic “Stability of Planetary Orbits”, then, after working for a year or two on this topic, it is very difficult to move to a team dealing with radiation transfer in planetary atmospheres. In contrast to the system adopted in the RFBR.
Thirdly, the decision-making system for supporting a particular topic is rather closed. Although gradually openness becomes more. For example, the preliminary results of the competition for Activity 2 in 2012 (project ratings) are published on the UNI website.
A significant problem, from my narrow astronomical point of view, is that there is no separate expert council for astronomy, but only a general one for physics and astronomy. That is, the understanding that astronomy is a separate fundamental science is, unfortunately, not very widespread.
In general, the number of grants at the university is not very large. For this reason, young employees may well not be included in any topic. This gives rise, especially among young people, to a sense of instability in their position. The consequence of this is their departure to commercial firms and to various positions in foreign institutes and observatories. The other side of the small number of grants is the application for short and therefore cheap topics, which hinders the development of fundamental projects.
For young talented employees from other cities or CIS countries, the housing problem is almost unsolvable. There is no special housing stock for such employees, and the amount of grants is insufficient for them to be able to rent commercial housing. All this leads to an almost complete absence of horizontal mobility, which is especially important for young people. However, this is a general problem affecting all universities in the country, and not just St. Petersburg State University.
Activity 5 is "Support for the participation of employees, students and postgraduates of St Petersburg University in international and all-Russian conferences with reports on the results of research." The application system is similar to that used in the now defunct RFBR's "h" competition. Applications for the competition are submitted through the UNI website, and an application can be submitted every quarter. That is, formally, you can get to 4 conferences a year. However, in reality it is one, maximum two conferences per year. There are limiting amounts of financing: 40 thousand rubles. - Europe, 60 thousand rubles. — Asia and North America, 80 thousand rubles. - South America and Australia. You can pay for travel, accommodation and receive daily allowance (about $60 per day). The registration fee is not paid to the winners of the competition.
Personally, I like this contest the most. The best part is that it allows not only researchers and teachers, but also graduate students and students to participate in conferences.
However, I would like to note that among the competitions/events of St Petersburg University, one thing is missing, but it is very important, namely, support for publication in high-ranking journals. For astronomers, this is primarily Astronomy and Astrophysics and Astrophysical Journal.
In conclusion, a few words about the grant system itself for supporting science. More than twenty years of existence of the competitive system of science support in Russia has shown its usefulness. To maintain the effectiveness of the grant system, in my opinion, only three conditions are needed. First, the more different science support funds, including highly specialized ones, the better. Secondly, the stability of the rules for the operation of such funds is extremely important. And, finally, transparency of the very procedure for considering applications (projects) is necessary, and in particular, the possibility for applicants to get acquainted with the system of ranking applications and with feedback on their projects.
A good example of an open approach is the organization of additional payments to employees for publication activity at St Petersburg University. At the same time, the technical details of the functioning of the grant system itself, despite the abundance of disputes and different opinions about these details, seem unimportant.
In summary, I consider the emergence of intra-university competitions to be very useful. It would be great if similar competitive systems appeared in other Russian universities, and above all in Moscow State University.
St. Petersburg State University is the oldest university in Russia. During its existence, St Petersburg University has secured the right to be called one of the best universities in Russia: a rich historical past, modern extensive research activities, active development and innovation allow St Petersburg University to be at the forefront of Russian science.
Saint Petersburg State University is the first university in Russia, founded by the decree of Emperor Peter I in 1724.
St Petersburg University has been given the status of a unique scientific and educational complex, the country's oldest university of great importance for the development of Russian society. The special status of the University implies:
- a separate line in the budget of the Russian Federation,
- the right to conduct additional tests in all major educational programs,
- the right to set their own educational standards,
- the right to confer their own academic degrees,
- the right to determine their own rules for holding competitions for the positions of scientific and pedagogical workers,
- the right to issue diplomas of their own sample,
- Appointment of the Rector of St Petersburg University by the President of the Russian Federation.
Students are trained in 398 educational programs.
University students can study for one or two semesters at a partner university as a student or trainee without interrupting their studies at St Petersburg University (academic mobility programs).
The university pursues a policy of responsible attitude to health and conducts compulsory classes in the disciplines "Life Safety" and "Physical Culture and Sports". For conducting classes, the university has a swimming pool, climbing, boxing, wrestling, weightlifting, aerobics, open volleyball and basketball courts, a football field, etc.
St Petersburg University provides students with the opportunity to relax at recreation centers and recreation centers:
- at the educational and recreational base "Horizont" on the Black Sea coast,
- in the health-improving complex "University" in the Leningrad region,
- in the sanatorium-preventorium of St. Petersburg State University.
St Petersburg University is a scientific and educational center of global importance.
There are 47 scientific centers, institutes and laboratories on the basis of the university; a unique Science Park was created with 26 resource centers, the cost of equipment of which is more than 7 billion rubles. Not only scientists and students of St Petersburg University, but also colleagues from all over the world can use the resources of the resource centers: the university is open for cooperation and is actively integrated into the global scientific and educational space.
St Petersburg University employs 1,400 Doctors of Science, 19 Academicians of the Russian Academy of Sciences and Russian Academy of Education, and 26 Corresponding Members of the Russian Academy of Sciences and Russian Academy of Education.
St Petersburg University adheres to a policy of openness in all areas of its activities. All information - about competitions, grants, entrance exams, decisions and documents - is published on the SPbU portal, and any interested person can get acquainted with it.
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