Research management and research productivity in Russia:

public vs. private university

Yulia Shumilova – Sofia CusnirUniversity of Tampere, HEG

32nd ANNUAL EAIR FORUMVilnius, 2009

share of Russian publications in international peer-reviewed journals is decreasing…

Reasons:

• Separation of HE and research

• Two tier system of doctoral studies

• Low academic mobility & language barrier

• Underfunding & Salary system did not include performance based component

• Low prestige of the academic career

Reasons continued

• HEI accreditation criteria, and university rankings based on quantitative indicators

• the list of journals recommended by the Supreme Attestation Commission for doctoral students – national in scope until 2008

• Sporadic national research grants

Research question

• How is university-based research managed in Russian HEIs in terms of staff recruitment, career progression policies, evaluation of research activities, incentives for research productivity and funding?

• ‘Competitive horizon’ concept (Hoffman et al, 2008)

• 2 case studies: - New Economic School (NES), Moscow- School of Management, Herzen Saint-Petersburg

State Pedagogical University

New Economic School (NES) - 1

• Small private graduate school established in 1992, based on “American model”

• top-ranked among Economic Schools in post-Soviet countries

• Teacher- student ratio 1:3 • Mission: “conduct globally competitive

research” and “reverse the brain drain by hiring Russian economists who completed their PhD studies abroad”

NES - 2

• first HEI in Russia to introduce tenure track model:-PhD studies (usually taken abroad) -probationary period of 8 years including interim evaluation in the 3rd year

- tenured position • Granting of tenure is based on research

performance evaluated through international peer-review

NES -3

• Recruitment – rigorous, international in scope, includes public presentation of one’s research

• faculty work load: teaching 30-40%, research – 40-50 % and administrative tasks 20 %

• Diversified funding: tuition fees, sponsored professors’ positions, alumni donations, competitive international, national and private research grants

NES -4

• Unmanaged, self-regulated research + admin support:

“There is full trust to tenure track professors, as annual evaluations cannot show anything due to intricacies of the publication process especially in the first three years of employment” (R5)

“There is no pressure [to apply for external funding], but some encouragement is there” (R6).

The School of Management,

Herzen State Pedagogical University

• formally founded in 2002, affiliated with traditional public university

• Ranked 2nd among other Russian Pedagogical universities

• Teacher- student ratio 1:26

• mission: to provide the best classic education in modern management theory and practice

School of Management -2

• Funding: state subsidies (70%), students’ tuition fees, competitive institutional grants (e.g. Innovative University grant of 11 million EUR)

• Limited time resources to do independent research/ top-down research management mechanisms

• Lack of info and admin support for individual grants

School of Management -3

• Recruitment through word-of-mouth, i.e – non-competitive and subjective

• 5-year contracts, for the highest academic ranks of docent and professor- discussed and voted at the departmental meeting; presumptive tenure

• annual accountability through department ratings; individual rankings to be introduced soon

School of Management -4

• teaching (including course design work)– 60%, research – 20-30%, administrative and other tasks – 10-20%

Discussion

• Different scopes of competitive horizons – national vs. global

• NES – an example of good practice:

Public research presentation as part of hiring process, admin. support for grant applications, international peer review, reduced teaching load, limited no. of tenure positions

• What conditions in your opinion are conductive to higher research productivity?

• What incentives are created in your institutions?

Kiitos!

Спасибо!

Thank you!