The Role of Federal Research Centers in Implementing the Strategic Priorities of Scientific and Technological Development of Russia

Abstract

The image of Russian science will change with the adoption of the new state program: Scientific and technological development of the Russian Federation. This paper discusses the reasons for such a significant transformation of science, and defines the tasks of federal research centers in the new system. Three federal centers of the European North of Russia were chosen as the objects of the study including Karelian, Kola and Komi Federal Research Centers. The paper briefly describes the history of the creation of a regional network of scientific organizations and their tasks. It also gives some examples of successful complex interdisciplinary cooperation between these three scientific organizations during the Soviet period. The attention is focused on the challenges facing the scientific organizations at present and the tools proposed for solving these. The tools primarily include a project approach and mechanisms for organizing complex interdisciplinary research, such as federal scientific and technical programs, integrated research programs, scientific educational centers at the international level, and the strategic academic leadership program Priority-2030. These aim to concentrate the efforts of researchers on the priority tasks of developing science and the most important sectors of the country’s economy. Federal research centers have a number of advantages over ordinary scientific organizations when science begins to concentrate in large ‘regions of knowledge’. Due to redistribution of internal reserves, they can initiate new research trends, points of growth, and joint research within the framework of integration projects.
 Keywords: federal research centers, project management, grand challenges, networking tools