On May 26, the General Assembly of Members of the Russian Academy of Sciences convened in Moscow. Alongside scientists, the meeting was attended by senior officials of the Russian Federation Government, the Federation Council, and the State Duma of the Federal Assembly, as well as several federal ministers and heads of federal agencies and corporations.

At the meeting, RAS President Gennady Krasnikov reported on the Academy’s activities between May 2025 and May 2026.

According to RAS Corr. Fellow Olga Bakhmet, the audience listened to the report with great attention as it outlined strategic goals for Russian science.

– In his talk, RAS President Gennady Krasnikov denoted the priority areas of the Academy’s work to implement the national state scientific and technical policy and informed about the most important scientific achievements of Russian scientists in the past year 2025, – said Olga Bakhmet.

The General Assembly also heard reports on the activities of the RAS Presidium and regional (Ural, Far Eastern, Siberian, and St. Petersburg) branches.

– It was exciting to learn about the achievements of our colleagues from other regions across a wide range of fields, and it was particularly useful to hear about the work of our colleagues from St. Petersburg, as KarRC RAS scientists have long-standing and strong scientific ties with many research organizations in the northern capital, – specified Olga Bakhmet.

Among the many questions raised during the discussion following the report, RAS President Gennady Krasnikov commented on the situation regarding the director general election at the KarRC RAS in 2025. According to Academician Krasnikov, the reason the problem could even occur is that the candidates were vetted for the role by the competent authorities not before but after the vote. With such a procedure, if the appointment of the winning candidate is not endorsed – which is what happened in Karelia – a problem arises.

Gennady Krasnikov informed that, taking this negative experience into account, the procedure has been revised so such issues will no longer occur, as representatives of the Federal Security Service have been included in the personnel commission under the Academy of Sciences. Now, candidates for elective offices will be vetted before the vote, and if there are concerns about a candidate, they will not receive the Academy’s support.

The RAS General Assembly also included a ceremony for presenting awards named after distinguished scientists. Among the recipients, as we have posted previously, was Doctor of Biological Sciences and Chief Researcher at the KarRC RAS Forest Research Institute Alexander Kryshen. He was honored with V.N. Sukachev Gold Medal.

Photo: RAS Press Office