National Council for Eurasian and East European Research |
www.nceeer.orgAbout Programs Projects Papers Partners Links Subscribe Who We Are |
|
National Council for Eurasian and East European Research |
About Programs Projects Papers Partners Links Subscribe Who We Are |
Academic Director:
Velikhan Mirzekhanov
Dean of the History Department, Saratov State University, Doctor of History
Administrative Director:
Lyudmila Strakhova
Vice-Rector (PR and international contacts), Associate Professor, Candidate of Pedagogic Science.
Address:
83, Ul. Astrakhanskaya, block 5, office 14,
Saratov, 410012, RUSSIA
Web: www.saratov.iriss.ru, e-mail: info@saratov.iriss.ru
Saratov State University: Russian
Research quality today is one of the key problems for CASEs as an emergent organizational form of social sciences and humanities studies in Russian universities. Success of the program will be possible only if the CASEs demonstrate a new level of quality in their research activities... We will be discussing standards as a sort of benchmark... set by the academic community itself , that is, international academic community, not limited within national borders.
There still exists a divide between the "old" academic disciplines (History, Literary Criticism, Linguistics, Psychology) and the "new" ones (Political Studies, Sociology, etc.). Quality standards in "old" sciences are maintained by existing academic schools, and are generally higher than in "new" sciences. Apart from that...there is also a noticeable capacity gap between capital city universities and those located in provinces although, with the advent of new communication technologies, this gap has been reduced substantially.
Another problem is a break of continuity from the previous generation of scholars to the next one. This is especially pronounced in humanities where professional standards are not handed over formally, but rather through the traditions of academic schools and research teams that develop certain norms and rules of their own; these standards and rules are lost as their adherents retire.
The objective for the new type of research institutions is thus quite obvious: they must bridge the above gaps. This is not as vital for older, classical universities as it is for new learning institutions.
The most important feature of new research entities is convertibility of their product and openness to domestic and international public. Experience with international events for scholars, such as conferences, congresses, or seminars, demonstrates that Russian participants individually make a decent impression, even compared to participants from other countries. The problem as we see it is that that the range of participants of such events is still too narrow.
Meanwhile competition is tightening on the international and, in particular, European market for educational services, with Russian universities finding themselves on the margin. For the situation to change, a workable system of joint studies, especially comparative ones, should be created as first priority. Participation in international projects will undoubtedly encourage Russian partners to aim at higher quality level.
The second important criterion which brings distinction to new standards in humanities and, even more so, in social sciences, is increasing use of empirical methods (in addition to theoretic ones), including quantitative and qualitative techniques for collecting and processing information and various anthropological, psychological and sociological methods.
Talking about quality standards, one should also mention new requirements that apply to the publication of research results. Those concern first of all the introduction of new ways to finance publishing activity...CASEs have been empowered to do the publishing on their own, which substantially shortens the interval between the study and the publication of results.
If it is really our intention to make CASEs research findings known to "the city and the world", we need to make sure that those are interesting to both the city and the world. This will only be possible if the very projects developed by CASE scholars are sufficiently large, innovative, truly inter-disciplinary and socially relevant.
For research to be successful and the new quality standards to take root, a few conditions must be met.
First, the CASEs strategy should be refined, and their thematic focus adjusted, with special attention paid to methodology, the application of modern research tools, and social significance of the chosen themes.
Second, the project approach to research organization should be used on a much broader scale. ...Solution can be found through persistent search for the right type of high-grade specialists (both inside and outside the country) and their inclusion in CASE projects.
