Russian scientists and the university community have welcomed the decision of Valery Falkov, the newly appointed head of the Russian Ministry of Science and Higher Education, to lift restrictions on the contact of domestic university professors and scientists with their foreign colleagues, according to recent statements made by representatives of some Russian universities and local media reports.
The restrictions were part of a special order of the Russian Ministry of Science and Higher Education, which was adopted in February 2019 and which became public in August last year.
At the time it sparked serious criticism from representatives of the Russian university community and the Russian Academy of Sciences. This was mainly due to the numerous restrictions on the cooperation of scientists of Russian institutions and research institutes with foreigners which were stipulated by the order.
For example, it required Russian university professors to have meetings with their foreign colleagues only in rooms especially designed and equipped for these purposes. In addition, any meeting with foreigners outside the university were only allowable with the approval of presidents of universities.
Andrey Tsaturyan, doctor of physical and mathematical sciences and co-chair of the Council of the Russian Community of Scientific Workers, in an interview with the Russian BFM business paper, called these rules absolutely absurd. According to him, lots of Russian universities have professors from foreign universities, which means the order imposed restrictions on cooperation with themselves.
Despite the criticism from scientists, Mikhail Kotyukov, the former head of the Russian Ministry of Science and Higher Education, referred to the existence of similar documents in many foreign countries. He said the order had a non-regulatory nature and reflected global practice.
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