At Russian universities, research activities now account for a mere 7 percent, and should be brought up to at least 15%, Mr. Fursenko said in an interview for Radio Mayak Saturday. He also called for a review of schemes used in financing university research. He believes that funds for the purpose should be distributed on a competitive basis and that feasible research projects should be supported in the first place.
Government allocations for scientific research will total 56 billion rubles in 2005 and 73 billion rubles in 2006 (the dollar currently buys 28.55 rubles), Mr. Fursenko said. According to him, public funding of research activities is on the increase now, with half of the funds intended for fundamental science. In the future, the proportion of fundamental science is going to grow even further, he said. The most heavily financed areas of research include life support, security, nanotechnology, energy saving, and sustainable use of natural resources. Sixty percent of the money offered to science is allowed for in the budget and the remaining 40 percent comes from extrabudgetary sources, the minister said. "We would like to increase scientific research outlay to 2 percent of GDP, with more than 55 percent of the allocations to come from extrabudgetary funds," he said.
In reply to a question about the business community's support for scientific research, Mr. Fursenko said that business executives were so reluctant to bankroll research projects as they had no clear picture of what their results may bring. So, to be able to attract funds from businesses, researchers should make their projects transparent and be clear and precise in stating their goals, pointed out the minister.
