RUSSIA

RUSSIA: Scientists protest luring foreign researchers

Russian scientists and university researchers are protesting a Kremlin effort to attract scientists from overseas to work in Russia, saying the government should raise the wages it pays to Russians instead, writes Anna Nemtsova for The Chronicle of Higher Education.

The primary focus of their anger is a new, $390-million programme that includes generous financial awards to scientists. The so-called mega-grant contest is open to all nationalities and is intended in part to entice Russian émigré scientists to return from universities and research laboratories abroad. The largest grants are for 150 million rubles (US$5-million), an unprecedented sum by Russian standards, and include offers of equipment and laboratory assistants.
Full report on The Chronicle of Higher Education site