On December 12, at 12 noon, a regular meeting of the working group on science and education of the Public Council under the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation was held, where the issues of reforming research institutes under the jurisdiction of the Ministry were discussed.
In a discussion chaired by Deputy Minister G. P. Ivlieva was attended by members of the Public Council and invited experts E. Yu. Genieva, G. I. Malanicheva, Yu. A. Vedenin, A. V. Sorezvov, D. V. Trubochkin, A. N. Arkhangelsky, employees of institutes subordinate to the RF Ministry of Culture: L. I. Lifshits, A. Ya. Rubinstein, N. V. Sipovskaya, E. M. Levashev, V. V. Ivanov (GII), P. M. Shulgin (Institute of Heritage), P. E. Yudin (RIK), as well as the coordinator of the public movement "Arkhnadzor" R. E. Rakhmatullin.
The participation of scientists who translated the conversation from general reasoning and schemes to specific tasks of solving the problems of the humanities and the protection of cultural heritage set the tone for the meeting at the Ministry of Culture on December 12. It was emphasized that the idea of merging institutions representing different areas of activity and different scientific schools will not be beneficial from the point of view of not only the development of science, but is also devoid of economic feasibility. It remains to be hoped that these arguments were heard by the State Secretary - Deputy Minister G. P. Ivliev, who chaired the meeting. However, the idea of uniting institutions has clearly not lost its attractiveness for him. It was guided by the Deputy Director of the Institute of Cultural Studies and the Rector of the St. Petersburg University of Cinema and Television. However, the cheerful report of one of the leaders of the RIC, who proposed his plan for the speedy reorganization of scientific institutes, did not stand up to criticism from his colleagues.
The members of the working group of the Public Council called for balanced decisions. Rustam Rakhmatullin, who also took part in the discussion, insisted that even if staff reductions were to be made, such reductions should in no way be mechanical. Only the criteria for evaluating the activities of scientists, developed with the active participation of the scientific community, can serve as a basis for such reductions.
Decided to prepare a decision of the working group, which should be based on two main postulates:
1) The Ministry understands the value of the national humanities and the need to preserve the established scientific schools;
2) the reform of scientific activity in order to optimize it is inevitable, and the Ministry of Culture expects constructive proposals from the institutes under its jurisdiction.
