Article
Наём иностранных ученых в российские научные организации и вузы: возможности и барьеры
Despite the measures taken by the Russian government to attract foreign scientists for work in Russian research organizations and universities, the level of incoming academic mobility to Russia remains extremely low. The paper provides quantitative estimates of the number of foreign researchers in different sectors of Russian science, and analyzes the attitude to the experience of their involvement on the part of the leaders of academic organizations. The work is based on the data of the Federal system for monitoring the performance of scientific organizations, as well as interview data with more than one hundred heads of Russian universities and research organizations.
The analysis of the quantitative and qualitative data demonstrates that for Russian organizations, recruitment of foreign scientists is not a usual and widespread practice, and is often considered as a difficult task with non-obvious benefits. This practice differs in its scope and implementations across the R&D sectors. The internationalization process is most active in universities, which are supported by the governmental measures developed specifically for these purposes. Based on the identified barriers, the paper offers several recommendations to increase the involvement of foreign researchers, as this can significantly contribute to the promotion of the country’s integration into the world science.
The old and well-known saying teaches us not to invent the wheel twice. Even though cooperation and knowledge sharing has always been a part of higher education activities, the topic gets never outdated. We tend to think that in order to have fruitful cooperation, it has to be planned and organized well. This often leads to structured and tightly scoped projects and collaboration activities which bring results and answers to pre-defined questions and targets. Open and cross-disciplinary sharing of practices provides another, more experimental-driven approach to cooperation. It offers the sharers the opportunity to describe their experiences and learnings from their own point of view, without the limitation of considering the different interpretations from readers and listeners. It also enables the sharer to use familiar terminologies and expressions and focus on the content. Storytelling has been introduced to the academic field as a valid format of sharing practices, experiences and learnings. Stories appear in multiple formats, and it has to be noted that as storytelling is sharer-driven, the choice of format is also in the hands of the sharer. Stories can be personal or organizational, even multiorganizational. They can be formal or free-form, fact-driven or based on opinions, and the heterogeneity of stories offers the reader and listener a wide choice of interpretations. Learning from stories requires an open mind and the ability to transfer the message from the story to the reader’s own context. While this can be demanding, it is also rewarding, as it does not limit the message transfer in any way. There are no pre-defined targets or expectations for the utilization of the learnings, and each reader can interpret the message of the story according to their own contexts and needs. The demanding side comes with a fact that stories rarely give readymade answers or solutions to the reader’s needs, but require effort in interpretation. While the world around us becomes more and more complex, the solutions and answers to rising challenges and needs also need to be discovered from different sources than before. The best solutions may be found in the most unexpected places and stories. With open eyes, ears and minds.
Purpose. During the last decade Russian federal authorities have tried to build an effective national innovation system, strongly emphasizing a well-functioning science sector. The purpose of this paper is to look at future developments of Russian science from the perspective of recent policies and their perceptions by Russian scientists. Special emphasis is placed on the so-called ‘efficient contracts’ policy for researchers which should make the remuneration system of public R&D organizations more competitive.
Design/methodology/approach. The paper examines the results of an extensive survey of almost 1500 Russian scientists and managers at universities and public research organizations conducted by the authors in 2013 as well as recent statistical data and policy documents.
Findings. The paper concludes that some of the ambitious S&T goals set by the government will be hard to achieve in the next decade. The scientific landscape is likely to experience certain structural changes but will probably face many of the existing problems. Improvements in overall R&D performance will largely depend on how well the ‘efficient contracts’ policy is implemented.
Originality/value. The future development of Russian science is discussed based on major recent policy documents and the opinions of Russian scientists. The findings might be important for policy makers not only in Russia but other countries as well.
The presented article belongs to the research categories, thus, is the result of research conducted by the authors, as well as the interpretation of the identified factors influencing the satisfaction of students participating in international academic mobility. In the study, the issues of the effectiveness of internationalization of education in Russian universities are provided by giving students the opportunity to participate in international mobility programs. The problems of internationalization are practical, since now this process is one of the prior directions in the development of education. In the course of this work, a study was conducted of the views of Russian students on the level and quality of education in the programs of international academic mobility, and the main result of the work was to identify the most significant factors affecting the choice of high school students for mobility, which were combined by the authors of the article in a set of recommendations to the leading Russian. universities when choosing partner universities. The practical part includes an expert interview of students (14 people) participating in mobility programs to identify criteria for their satisfaction with this experience, which, together with the factors identified as a result of analyzing theoretical work, served as the basis for the compilation of a survey on academic mobility, which then 148 students passed. Thus, the following significant components of the effective passage of the program were identified: a high level of adaptation and awareness of foreign students at the host university, high professionalism of teachers, moderation of expenses, the availability of scholarships, provision of team project work to establish relationships with fellow students. The leading criteria for the selection of foreign universities by students were determined: established partnerships between sending and receiving universities, the attractiveness of the country of the program, the opportunity to practice rare foreign languages with their native speakers. As a research perspective, it can be proposed to establish differences in the factors influencing the choice of Western or Eastern universities - partners.
The professionalisation of the field of international higher education has, among other things, amplified the need for specific skills at the international office. Even the definition and location of the international office now vary from one university to the next. Among all these changes, who is the international officer of today? As the diversity of opinions, experiences and case studies in this issue illustrate, the answer to this question is anything but straight forward.
ie steigende Diversität unter Studierenden und Wissenschaftlern ist eine neue Herausforderung für die Hochschulforschung. Verstärkt durch die Globalisierung der Arbeitsmärkte kommt internationaler Mobilität und Migration eine besondere Bedeutung zu. Dabei wächst die Beteiligung von Personen mit Migrationsstatus an akademischer Bildung. Zugleich entwickeln gerade im Wissenschaftsbereich viele eine Identität jenseits nationaler Zugehörigkeiten, womit die Hochschule mehr und mehr zu einer transnationalen Sphäre wird. Der Band führt erstmals Beiträge aus der Hochschul- und der Migrationsforschung zusammen.
We address the external effects on public sector efficiency measures acquired using Data Envelopment Analysis. We use the health care system in Russian regions in 2011 to evaluate modern approaches to accounting for external effects. We propose a promising method of correcting DEA efficiency measures. Despite the multiple advantages DEA offers, the usage of this approach carries with it a number of methodological difficulties. Accounting for multiple factors of efficiency calls for more complex methods, among which the most promising are DMU clustering and calculating local production possibility frontiers. Using regression models for estimate correction requires further study due to possible systematic errors during estimation. A mixture of data correction and DMU clustering together with multi-stage DEA seems most promising at the moment. Analyzing several stages of transforming society’s resources into social welfare will allow for picking out the weak points in a state agency’s work.