[cmath] Fighting the liquidation of the Russian Academy of Science

[Christiane Rousseau]

Dear colleagues, 

you are invited to sign a letter against this liquidation. The url is at the end of this message which gives some bacground.

LIQUIDATION OF RAN (Russian Academy of Sciences)

1.    Background on the Crisis

A motion is proceeding through the Duma (the Russian Parliament) that, if passed, will fundamentally alter the functioning of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAN).  Below are some quotations from the project of the law that show that the Russian government plans to liquidate the current Russian academy of sciences and create a new “Russian academy of sciences”.

Article 19 is entitled “ Stopping the functioning of Russian academy of sciences <…>”.  It proposes that the Russian Government <…> form a committee for the liquidation of RAN (quoted from Article 19). The RF
(Russian Federation) Government will analyze the activity of the institutions now subordinate to RAN. Some of them will become subordinate to federal institutions, some will be liquidated  (from Article 19.7, shortened). After the registration of “Russian academy of sciences”, the liquidation of RAN will proceed (Commentary to the law).

2.    NEXT STEP OF THE LIQUIDATION

The state Duma approved the law in the first two readings (July 2013), and then made a break for vacation. At the end of August, it will discuss the law for the third time. If it is approved in the third reading, the law will be accepted, and the liquidation of RAN will start.

3.    What Can Be Done?

Letters from the world scientific community that advocate preserving the existing RAN may prevent the approval of the “liquidation law”, provided that the letters are signed by influential members of the community, and that the total number of signatures is large.

A reference to a circulating letter of this kind is at http://save-russian-academy.org/
In order to sign the letter, you may click the reference above. The letter will appear. Below it there is a button “sign”. Clicking this button, you will see a brief form, asking about your name, position, etc. Filling this form, you click a button “sign” below, and the letter is signed.

Christiane Rousseau
Département de mathématiques et de statistique 
Université de Montréal
C.P. 6128, succ. Centre-ville
Montréal, Qc, H3C 3J7
Tél: 514 343-7729, 
Télec: 514 343-5700
rousseac at dms.umontreal.ca
www.dms.umontreal.ca/~rousseac