Russian universities have been promised a research bounty following the crushing victory for President Vladimir Putin's United Russia party in last week's parliamentary elections. The landslide – which gave United Russia a clear two-thirds majority in the state Duma – should guarantee that pre-election promises Putin gave to double funding for science and research are kept.

Although not a party member, Putin headed the federal list for United Russia in the election, which used proportional representation to apportion votes.

The United Russia win could now pave the way for Putin to take on some kind of new national leadership role after his second term as president expires in March, given that the Russian Constitution does not allow a third consecutive term.

In an eve-of-election meeting with university and academic leaders, including Yury Osipov, head of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and Moscow State University rector Viktor Sadovnichy, Putin promised to up government spending on science to US$16.5 billion by 2010 – double the amount spent this year.

The money will be targeted at developing key fields including nanotechnology, bioengineering and nuclear physics.

The cash promise did not come without a sting in the tail: Putin criticised Osipov for using academy facilities to make money. As many as 200 or the academy's 600 research centres were being used for business activities, not science, Putin said. "The Academy of Sciences is not a business corporation," he said.


Printable version
Email to a friend
Comment on this article

Disclaimer: All reader responses posted on this site are those of the reader ONLY and NOT those of University World News or Higher Education Web Publishing, their associated trademarks, websites and services. University World News or Higher Education Web Publishing does not necessarily endorse, support, sanction, encourage, verify or agree with any comments, opinions or statements or other content provided by readers.