C. Current problems in higher education

Describe the relationship between higher education and scientific/academic research in your country: what percentage of research is performed at HEIs; are any steps taken to improve the interaction between higher education and other research sectors?

State financing of research in education and science is conducted on the basis of National Projects, Federal Target Programmes, regional and agency programmes, etc. A system of non-governmental public and private organisations and foundations (including venture capital funds) participating in the funding of research and R&D by education institutions and scientific organisations is being currently elaborated.

Based on the “Concept for Modernization of Russian Education Until 2010”, a multi-tiered system of lifelong skilled personnel training in higher education is being developed, thus helping maintain human resources potential of the Russian research sector.

At the current time approximately 700 accredited state HEIs in the Russian Federation are conducting research and development projects. The HEI science sector is a fruitful environment for the creation and growth of a science and technology infrastructure and innovation activity.

The principle of unity of educational and research activities is the corner-stone for the formation of key education programmes stipulated by State Educational Standards and Documents, and other regulatory/normative documents. At the higher education stage, research is an important component of training (the research component of bachelor’s education is included in the educational process (tests, calculation projects, course work/projects and final qualifying projects (VKR); master’s research is comparable in volume to bachelor’s training in the basic, foundation cycles and comprises approximately 40% of the total workload in master’s programmes. As has been noted above, post-HEI education is aimed at obtaining a degree and is built on research (the volume of research is 79-86% of the total workload). In all the concepts for designing Russian and foreign higher-qualification training

programmes are similar and built on the principle that research takes priority, as it is treated as the backbone of the education system. Approaches to differentiation of the levels of degrees awarded are also similar, and based on the total time commitment required to absorb educational programmes.

Historically, science in Russia has been divided into three sectors: HEI, academic (Russian Academy of Sciences and other academies) and applied (research centres, design bureaux, etc.). Currently, HEIs contain a concentration of research potential, which is substantiatad by the following statistical data (tables 1 and 2).

The HEI science sector includes the following research, planning and design departments, which perform R&D: 260 research institutes, more than 60 design bureaus and 1,200 basic research laboratories, including test sites, approximately 600 engineering and scientific methodical centres, 135 experimentation facilities, 76 unique facilities (22 botanical gardens, 37 science museums and 7

observatoria), more than 80 technology parks, and numerous technology and information centres. HEIs have founded more than 2,200 small innovation enterprises working on the development and production of new products.

Table 1: Parameters describing scientific research and development projects by activity sector, end of 2005.

Table 2: Key parameters describing the activity of the HEI sector at the end of 2005.

Parameters 2005

Percentage of the HEI sector in the total volume of internal expenditure on

research and development, %

5.8

Volume of non-budgetary funds per rouble of expenditure from the consolidated

R&D budget in the HEI sector, in roubles *

1.87

Specific weight of personnel employed in R&D in the HEI sector, in the total

number of persons engaged in research and development, %

5.3

Specific weight of the HEI sector among science organisations in the state sector

%

15.1

Specific weight of post-graduate students studying in the HEI sector within the

total number of post-graduate students, %

86.0

Percentage of candidates of sciences in the higher education sector engaged in

R&D, in the total number of candidates of sciences in the higher education sector,

% 6.5

Percentage of doctors of sciences in the higher education sector engaged in R&D,

in the total number of doctors of sciences in the higher education sector, % 7.2

* For HEIs in Rosobrazovania (the Russian education system)

In this connection, the main direction for enhancing the efficiency of research and quality of training

of researchers and faculty at the current time is the development of multi-tiered institutional and

programme-based integration of education and science systems. Top priority is given to the

cooperation of HEI science with academic and industry sector institutes by the following means: joint

R&D activity sector Number of

research

staff

Candidates

of sciences

Doctors of

sciences

Postgraduates

Number

of

organisat

ions

Internal

expenditure on

R&D (000

RUR)

Total for activity

sectors 813 207 77 024 23 502 142 899 3 566 230 785 150

State sector 272 718 43 825 16 531 19 986 1 282 60 158 167

Commercial sector 496 706 23 037 4 281 1 703 156 880 029

HE sector 43 500 10 101 2 667 122 913 539 13 337 987

Private non-profit

sector 283 61 23 42 408 968

Number of candidates

of sciences and

doctors of sciences in

faculty of HEIs 155 311 37 297

use of scientific, experimentation and equipment resources; creation of integrated structures, universities and inter-university complexes, science, education and production centres; development of international cooperation and interaction in training skilled personnel.

At the current time, in almost 35 regions of the country there are approximately 80 technology parks and 56 innovation and technology centres (ITTs); these are primarily attached to HEIs while 25-30% are structures functioning in a stable, independent fashion.

In 2006 construction work began at four major Innovation and Technology Parks: in St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Moscow Region and Nizhniy Novgorod.

What percentage of students seeking (candidate) degrees follow a career as researchers; are any measures taken to increase the number of students seeking academic degrees who then follow careers as researchers?

In 2005, 33,600 people completed post-graduate studies, including 28,800 people (85.5%) from HEI post-graduate studies, and 4,800 people from post-graduate study at research institutes, of which 2,700 (8.7%) studied at institutes of the Russian Academy of Sciences and other academies. The level of efficiency of post-graduate studies (production of post-graduates with successfully defended dissertations) in 2005 amounted to 31.7%, which corresponds to the average level of efficiency of

post-graduate studies over the last decade.

The following steps are taken to realize the main goal of post-graduate studies—the selection and training of talented young academics:

- state determination and stimulation of high-priority areas of scientific research, aimed at increasing the effectiveness of a multi-tiered Russian education system;

- improvement of planning of the enrolment and formation of a body of post-graduates and the improvement of the system for selecting HEI graduates and young specialists for post-graduate studies;

- enhancement of the criteria for post-graduate research advisors (the right of research supervision is granted only to academics possessing a doctor of sciences diploma and a professorial attestation in the corresponding specialty, and actively conducting research work);

- modernization of post-graduate training programmes (development of State Educational Standards for all post-graduate training specialties, using a system for the accumulation of credits and transfers based on the ECTS system);

- improvement of additional educational programmes, implemented as a part of post-graduate studies, for the purposes of expanding the system of competencies acquired;

- expansion of cooperation with HEIs and training centres in the countries of Europe, pursuing the policy aimed at increasing mobility;

- organisation of research, workshops, seminars and conferences having both practical and applied scientific value, using the resources of HEIs and scientific organisations;

- development and application of methods for assessment of training quality, as well as the level of qualification and scales of quality of students completing post-graduate studies, from the viewpoint of a progressive, skills-based and highly personalized approach;

- development of a system of material and social incentives at the state level, enhancing the prestige of academic degrees, and capable of attracting talented youth to engage in research activity;

- funding of training programmes for gifted post-graduates, expansion of funding of post-graduate training by means of improving the practice of obtaining grants from universities and research foundations, participation in target and research programmes, and also the conclusion of agreements with enterprises and companies interested in this development;

- ensuring guarantees of professional employment of post-graduate students and graduates of postgraduate courses by means of establishing regional and industry sector requests for training research staff, as well as by integrating the practice of concluding agreements with organisations in industry sectors.

The social dimension