Russian science and technology are famous due to many achievements. On the top of the list there are: the invention of radio by A. Popov,
the creation of the Periodical table of elements by D. Mendeleev, formulation of the principals of the interplanetary space flights on
multistage rockets by K. Tsiolkovskiy, achievements of Russian space program lead by S. Korolev that include first unmanned space flight of
"Sputnik" and first manned space flight of Yu. Gagarin, invention of laser by N. Basov and Yu. Prokhorov as well and many other discoveries.
There are around 4000 organizations in Russia involved in research and development with almost one million personnel. Half of those people
are doing scientific research. It is coordinated by Ministry of industry, science and technologies, where strategy and basic priorities
of research and development are being formulated.
Fundamental scientific research is concentrated in Russian Academy of Sciences, which now includes hundreds of institutes specializing in all
major scientific disciplines such as mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, astronomy, Earth sciences etc.
The applied science and technology is mainly done in Institutions and Design Bureaus belonging to different Russian Ministers. They are
involved in research and development in nuclear energy (Ministry of atomic energy), space exploration (Russian aviation and space agency),
defense (Ministry of defense), telecommunications (Ministry of communications) and so on.
Russian Academy of Sciences
Russian Academy of Sciences is the community of the top ranking Russian scientists and principal coordinating body for basic research in
natural and social sciences, technology and production in Russia. It is composed of more than 350 research institutions. Outstanding Russian
scientists are elected to the Academy, where membership is of three types - academicians, corresponding members and foreign members. The
Academy is also involved in post graduate training of students and in publicizing scientific achievements and knowledge. It maintains ties
with many international scientific institutions and collaborates as well with foreign academies. The Academy’s divisions directed by its
Presidium are:
Division of mathematics;
Division of general physics and astronomy;
Division of nuclear physics;
Division of physical and technical problems of energy production;
Division of machine engineering, mechanics and control process problems;
Division of informatics computer technologies and automation;
Division of general and technical chemistry;
Division of physical-chemistry and technology of inorganic
materials;
Division of physical-chemical biology;
Division of general biology;
Division of physiology;
Division of geology, geophysics, geochemistry and mining sciences;
Division of oceanology, atmosphere physics, geography;
Division of history;
Division of philosophy, sociology, psychology and low;
Division of economics;
Division of international relations studies;
Division of literature and language;
Founded in St. Petersburg in 1724 by Peter the Great the Academy was than opened in 1725 by his widow Catherine I, as the Academy of sciences
and arts. Later known under various names it got its present name in 1925. In its early decades foreign scholars notably the Swiss
mathematicians Leonard Euler and Daniel Bernoulli worked in the Academy. The first Russian member in the Academy was Mikhail Lomonosov,
scientist and poet, who was elected in 1742 and contributed extensively to many branches of science. The Academy’s highest prize, the Lomonosov
Medal, bears his name.
Under the tsars, Academy was headed by the Court members and controlled a relatively small number of institutions. After 1917 the
Academy started to elect its president and expanded its activities while many new scientific institutions arose throughout the Soviet Union. By
1934, when it was transferred from Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) to Moscow, it embraced 25 institutes. Before the disintegration of the
Soviet Union in 1991 the Academy directed more than 260 institutions including laboratories, naval institutes, observatories, research
stations, scientific societies and branches, that were spread throughout the republics of former Soviet Union. Russian Academy is proud of it’s
members awarded with the Nobel prize, who are: Ivan Pavlov, Nikolai Semenov, Igor Tamm, Pavel Cherenkov, Ilya Frank, Lev Landau, Nikolai
Basov, Alexander Prokhorov, Mikhail Sholokhov, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Leonid Kantorovich, Andrey Sakharov, Pyotr
Kapitsa, Zhorez Alfyorov.
Russian Academy of Sciences celebrated its 275 jubilee a few years ago. Still it is the leading force of the Russian science keeping its best
traditions, thus maintaining a high level of the scientific, technological, educational and spiritual potential of the country.
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