While Russia has a long road ahead when it comes to recovering its once thriving national science and research system, President Vladimir Putin has pledged to make science and innovation among the country’s top priorities. Russia has a rich history in regards to scientific contributions, but with the collapse of the Soviet Union, many of the country’s regional institutions and infrastructures fell apart as well.

Over the last decade, Putin’s administration has incrementally increased the country’s science budget, with annual R&D spending now approximately 1% of the nation’s GDP. In 2018, the Russian government designated RUB 170 billion ($3 billion), a 25% increase, for fundamental R&D. According to the NSF, between 2006 and 2016, Russia’s scientific publishing output increased by over 50%, placing the country amongst the top 10 countries in terms of published research articles and ahead of countries such as Australia, Canada and Switzerland. However, state-funded science and discovery-to-commercialization efforts still fall short in Russia, and excessive bureaucracy and state control over researchers’ work have also pushed many Russian scientists to leave the country.

Source: Nature