Tendencies and prospects of Russian-French scientific collaboration

Abstract

This article presents the state of the art and prospects for the Russian-French research collaboration, based on semistructures interviews with Russian and French scientists. Motivations, origins, and a pace of development for scientific collaborations between the two countries were investigated. Official collaborative schemes as well as temporary partnerships (through fellowships, trainings, part-time work in Russian or French organizations) were studied. The survey covered wide range of disciplines, both in natural and social sciences. It has revealed that most of partnerships that are functioning within official intergovernmental schemes are stable and the parties are willing to continue and even expand collaboration. At the same time there are a number of barriers to successful cooperation. The most hampering factors are the lack of funding, some logistical problems, and other issues related to the specifics of organization and regulation of scientific research in Russia. An important part of sustainable development is participation of students and postdocs in research collaborations. Russian and French students establish long-term linkages that may yield new joint projects in the future. Main factors that should strengthen collaboration include necessity to provide more funding from both sides, to improve foreign language skills, and possibly move towards joint commercialization-related research and development.