The rejuvenation of Soviet science is being hastened by theintroduction of "recertification" for researchers. According to Izvestia, more than 2 percent of the scientists have failed these tests and been dismissed, while an additional 5 percent have been demoted. The future of scientists who fail recertification is uncertain, but the septuagenarian directors now leaving their posts will continue to draw their present salaries after being given such titles as "counselor to the Presidium of the U.S.S.R. Academy of Sciences."
"Everything gets fatigued—even metal," writes Yevgeniya Albats in Moscow News in explaining Marchuk's "reconstruction" of the Academy. "The same is true of people, even those with outstanding potential.
"Science calls for a versatile mind and new ideas," Albats continued. "It doesn't tolerate stagnation. Authoritarianism in science is equal to death. The essence of this innovation by the Academy consists precisely in that it recognizes that one must not hold a position ...
