Russian scientists will be prohibited from cooperating with foreigners without coordination with the Federal Security Service. The list of scientific, scientific-technical activities, and experimental developments will be approved by the government, and the bill by the Ministry of Education and Science has already been approved by the government commission, according to two sources from «Vedomosti».
Information about projects requiring coordination will be entered into the unified state system of accounting (GIS) for research, design, and technological works of a civil nature. Scientific organizations and universities must place data in the GIS about contracts with foreign parties concluded before the law comes into force by December 1, 2025.
Representatives of the Kurchatov Institute and the Russian Academy of Sciences reviewed the bill and have no objections; the relevant conclusions were submitted to the government along with the bill. The RAS review notes that the developed document «promotes national interests and achievements of national science on the international stage».
The authors of the bill believe that the innovations will enhance control over the transfer of scientific activity results outside Russia, «without violating the freedom of scientific creativity and without creating obstacles for organizations to conduct scientific work».
Meanwhile, by the end of last year, the RAS dropped to 94th place in the world, although it ranked 71st in the 2023 ranking, and 44th in the pre-war 2021. Over the year, RAS scientists published 507 articles in leading scientific journals — a third less than the previous year (768). Even more significantly — by almost 40% — the activity of researchers from Moscow State University decreased. In journals tracked by Nature, they published only 167 works, although the previous year there were 272, and in 2018 — more than 400. In the ranking of scientific centers, Moscow State University dropped to 420th place, losing seven positions over the year and 111 places over the past 6 years.