RUSSIA:
Bulgak Fails to Deliver on Reform Plans
Andrey Allakhverdov and Vladimir Pokrovsky
MOSCOW--Vladimir Bulgak, the deputy prime minister in charge of science, has this year made some bold public statements on his plans for Russian science, such as substantially reducing the number of state-funded institutions, concentrating research efforts on a limited number of important areas, and radically restructuring the Russian Academy of Sciences. And he has backed them up by launching a process of evaluation and accreditation of all government-funded institutes, with a view to closing the least effective ones, raising expectations that the government would commit to some far-reaching reforms. But the long-awaited plans for the country's research system, drafted by the science ministry under Bulgak's guidance, disappointed reform-minded researchers, who have criticized its scant detail and lack of any timetable or deadlines.
