Scholarships of the President of Russia for postgraduate students and adjuncts were discussed at the RUSSIA EXPO
The
thematic day "Science and Universities" organized by the Ministry of
Education and Science of Russia was held at the RUSSIA EXPO. The system of
motivation for applicants for the Presidential Scholarship was discussed by
scientists and representatives of the business community.
The Decree
on the Scholarship of the President of Russia for postgraduate students and
adjuncts was signed by the head of state on November 27, 2023. The decision is
aimed at supporting talented young scientists at the beginning of their
scientific career, as well as the development of the country's scientific
potential. Scholarships will be awarded annually based on the results of
competitive selections for a period of one to four years, depending on the
duration of full-time studies. The payments to young talents will amount to 75
thousand rubles monthly and will be financed from the federal budget.
The
discussion was attended by Denis Sekirinsky, Deputy Minister of Science and
Higher Education of Russia, Sergei Adonin, Deputy Director for Research of the
Irkutsk Scientific Center of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of
Sciences, Anton Shashkin, Acting Director of the Department of State Policy in
the Sphere of Scientific and Technological Development, Albert Efimov,
Vice-President-Director of the Research and Innovation Department of Sberbank
of Russia, and others. The Council meeting was chaired by Mikhail Pogosyan,
Rector of the FSBEI HE Moscow Aviation Institute (National Research
University).
The system of motivation and redistribution of points in favor of talented young people was raised by Mikhail Marchenko, Professor of the Russian Academy of Sciences, PhD in Physics and Mathematics.
"The
fact is that you can always write pretty, make beautiful promises, young people
know how to break the system. Therefore, I would suggest giving more points to
the achievements of graduate students. I would also suggest to remove points
from the supervisor and transfer them in favor of the student. It is clear that
a good supervisor passes some of his ideas to his student, but, nevertheless,
we still stimulate talented and enterprising young people," Mikhail Marchenko
pointed out.
Academician
of the Russian Academy of Sciences Professor Vladimir Shevchenko emphasized
that the achievements of young scientists are not limited only to their
postgraduate activities: "They have also studied in the university before,
they have an average diploma grade, there are various achievements of the
student, maybe even of the high school period. And it seems to me that this
part of the story also needs to be taken into account."
He also emphasized the importance of letters of support: "Letters of recommendation and letters of support from prominent scholars play a big role, but here this tool is not used at all, and I think this is wrong, as such letters should definitely be considered in a graduate student's portfolio, especially if they are not just words, but a narrative of a respected expert's interaction with that graduate student."
The topic of finding a balance between the roles of graduate student and supervisor was continued by Denis Sekirinsky: "It will be very good if this tool helps us to support super-talented young people, but we should also try to support the formation of scientific schools around productive scientific supervisors. That is why there is an innovation related to the evaluation of the supervisor. Previously, their role was not actually considered in any way".
Albert Efimov drew the attention of those present to the necessity of evaluating the degree of significance of the contest works, as well as clarifying their authorship: "It seems to me that it is more correct to evaluate the degree of breakthrough created by young scientists, rather than the economic effect. We also need to clarify that young people who apply for the scholarship are really the first authors of their already published scientific works. Because if they are the 'twenty-fifth' author, it is unclear why they receive a scholarship from the President of Russia".
Another issue on the agenda was to authorize the Council to consider the awarding of the already existing personal Zhores Alferov scholarship for young scientists in the field of physics and nanotechnology. Anton Shashkin informed the experts on this issue.
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