#5
Putin calls for reform of Russia's Academy of Sciences
Moscow, 3 December, ITAR-TASS correspondent Veronika Voskoboynikova: Russian President Vladimir Putin has called for the creation of a legal framework to protect intellectual property, especially in regard to innovations and development work. "The fruits of innovation should be protected by law," he said at a meeting in the Kremlin today with members of the presidium of Russia's Academy of Sciences.
Putin also believes that the Academy itself should have a clearly-defined legal status. At present it has a mixed status, he said. On the one hand it is a self-governing organization, yet on the other it enjoys state support. The Academy's constituent documents should be brought into line with the prevailing legal norms. But for the time being, "the Academy is a state within a state and lives by its own laws", Putin said.
The market for ideas should operate identically for all scientists and researchers regardless of their title or administrative status, the head of state continued. "Prominent scientists should not only organize competition but take part in it as well," he said. The state makes its priorities clear when it places procurement orders and commissions research, and science should take its lead from this...
Next Article