Societies Aid In Large-Scale Effort To Support Russian Science

The International Science Foundation for the Former Soviet Union (ISF), with the help of discipline-specific panels composed of representatives of United States scientific organizations and more than 200 American and European scientists, is conducting what participants are calling an unprecedented peer-review process. The effort is scheduled to culminate this month with the funding of about 900 research proposals from scientists in Russia and other Baltic states. The grants will total $45 million to $50 million and will fund 10 percent to 20 percent of the proposals under consideration, according to Chris Williams, an executive assistant at ISF who is involved in the grant-review process. Williams says that, in all, 11,000 proposals were submitted to ISF; of these, he notes, 9,000 passed a formal screening of minimum requirements. "The criteria [were] rather strict, but even though the scientists in the former Soviet Union are confined by a crumbling technical and equipment structure, the human capital is quite incredible," Williams says. Criteria for scientists and their proposals included: a degree equivalent to a Ph.D.; at least five articles published in science publications from inside or outside Russia since 1988; employment in scientific and/or educational institutions in the former Soviet Union; proposed research to be conducted in the natural sciences; and citizenship or at least six months' residence in the former Soviet Union. Each proposal author was asked to provide the names of six reviewers familiar with his or her work from the relevant research community in the former Soviet Union, according to Irving Lerch, director of international scientific affairs at the American Physical Society (APS). While the comments of the reviewers were treated as referees' comments, "the panelists have the responsibility for making the final judgment," Lerch says. Each panel had a secretary from the former Soviet Union who was responsible for collecting the proposals, ensuring that they were submitted in the proper format, and submitting them to the appropriate panel in Washington, D.C., for peer review. The panelists are 220 scientists representing the U.S., Western Europe, Russia, the Ukraine, and other Baltic states. The meetings, held over the past two months, have been coordinated by staff members from the National Academy of Sciences, APS, the American Geophysical Union (AGU), the American Astronomical Society, the American Mathematical Society, and the American Chemical Society (ACS). Panelists were selected by the scientific societies, ISF's executive council, and an advisory committee in Moscow. "The professional organizations have been tremendously helpful in providing administrative assistance," says Williams. "While ISF is responsible for funding the selected proposals, the scientific societies have overseen the organization of panel meetings, maintained day-to-day contact with panel members, and helped administer the review process of proposals in specific disciplines." Eugene Bierly, director for education and research at AGU, says that the peer-review process did have some snags. "The process didn't work that well in terms of timeliness, and I suspect the reason was that our colleagues in Moscow did not have experience in getting so many proposals out in a timely manner," Bierly says. "Peer review is a new way of doing things to scientists in the former Soviet Union. I suspect at the next opportunity, things will go much smoother and faster." John Malin, administrator of ACS international activities, notes that the joint peer-review process is the largest ever undertaken by ACS or any scientific organization. "This [review process] means the ACS's Office of International Activities is handling a proposal load equal to that administered each year by the entire chemistry division of the National Science Foundation--a very tough job," Malin says. "Never before in grants administration has such an intense effort been organized and completed in so short a time." Lerch says his organization was eager to participate in the process because it will help preserve important scientific work in the former Soviet Union. "We believe there is a need to try and preserve at least the most important research grants there," he says. "Our view is that whatever we can salvage will be extremely important to science internationally." Scientists in Russia and neighboring Baltic states have long been hindered by a bloated science bureaucracy and a struggling economy. One year ago, Hungarian-born tycoon and philanthropist George Soros established ISF with the objective of providing scientists in the former Soviet Union with the opportunity to conduct research based on individual merit (B. Goodman, The Scientist, Jan. 11, 1993, page 3). Under the current structure, senior scientists were given money to distribute among junior colleagues. Malin, who recently returned to the U.S. from a visit to Russia, says that country's struggle to change to a market- oriented economy poses a major challenge to scientists. "Their scientific establishment was probably overbuilt," he says. "Now that they are learning about peer review, they are probably going to have to look at science in a more competitive way." Funds received by scientists will help defray costs for equipment, travel related to research, and salaries, Williams says. "Scientists in Russia and neighboring states report that the highest annual salaries are at about 45,000 rubles a month, the equivalent of about $500 a year," he notes. Malin adds that the work of researchers in the former Soviet Union has also been limited by an information blackout. "A serious problem we found in many of the proposals was a grave lack of contact with the latest scientific information," he says. "Because of the monetary problem with the devaluation of the ruble, they just don't have the buying power to purchase the latest science publications." To help solve that problem, U.S. science organizations are donating journals to libraries and other institutions around the former Soviet Union. ACS, for example, is donating up to 500 recent and current ACS journals, with a market value of about $500,000, to several Russian libraries across the former Soviet Union. Malin says the Fisher Chemical Co. of Pittsburgh has pledged to donate about $600,000 worth of chemicals to ACS, which in turn will give them to the N.D. Zelinski Institute of Organic Chemistry in Moscow. "We're excited about this process," Malin says. "There are some fine chemists in Russia and the other former Soviet countries, and ACS and ISF want to do all we can to help them." Williams says the combined efforts of ISF, the scientific societies, and individual scientists should help researchers in Russia and other newly independent states reach their full potential. "We think these grants and other programs will break the mold because they are opening up opportunities to more scientists based on merit rather than bureaucracy," Williams says. Tracey D. Webb is a freelance writer based in Philadelphia.

Societies Aid In Large-Scale Effort To Support Russian Science

Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of