Irina Dezhina: Beware of Poverty and Affluence

... has shown that even if you begin to build something new, the old does not necessarily disappear. Moreover, a part of the new often adapts to the old, instead of the opposite. Is this estimation still true with regards to the ongoing reformation of the Russian Academy of Sciences? To a certain extent, it is. The RAS is being formally converted into a Western-style club of scientists, which means quick reforms, improvements to the working environment, less red tape and a removal of conflicts of interest....