MOSCOW, December 24 . /TASS/. About 50% of full members, corresponding members and professors of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) view the current state of science in the country in a negative light. Nevertheless, they expect the situation to change in the future, as follows from the results of a poll posted on the Nauchnaya Rossiya (Scientific Russia) website on Thursday.
"Scientists are skeptical about the state of affairs in Russian science today and in the near future. That said, 50.2% of the respondents describe the current state of Russian science as dismal, 46.5% take a discouraging view of its future in a year, and just 14% are optimistic about it. Scientists are much more upbeat about the distant future, 32.1% believe it will be encouraging in five years’ time, while 56.4% said it would be favorable in 20 years," the survey’s results revealed.
At the same time, in the opinion of 37.1% of those polled, the sway that scientists have in Russian society has climbed since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. On the other hand, 25.1% disagree with that, and 37.8% agree with that partially.
The survey was conducted on December 18-22, 2020, with 1,012 Russian scientists having been interviewed. There were 296 full members, 452 corresponding members and 239 professors of the Russian Academy of Sciences among those polled (25 respondents referred to themselves as directors of institutes, professors and research fellows). Members of all branches of the Russian Academy of Sciences took part in the poll.