Although details about the foundation's staff and procedures remained sketchy when Soros announced the donation at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C., on December 9, he made it clear that he envisions a grant-making body loosely modeled on the United States' National Science Foundation. It would leapfrog the hierarchical structure of science that existed in the former Soviet Union, in which senior scientists got money to disburse to more junior colleagues. Instead, the new foundation plans to make grants to individual scientists based on merit.
"I very much hope the foundation will work to the transformation of what used to be Soviet science and make it science in the spirit of open society, which is my ideal," Soros said at a news conference announcing the donation.
"I believe only Western assistance can help the former Soviet Union from slipping into a black hole," Soros said.
Life for researchers ...
