Russian Academy of Sciences

Russian Academy of Sciences (Росси́йская Акаде́мия Нау́к) is the national academy of Russia. This organization includes scientific institutes from all across the Russian Federation. It is an honour to be elected to membership of the Academy. During the time of the Soviet Union it was known as the Academy of Sciences of the USSR.

History

The Academy was founded in St. Petersburg by Peter the Great, and implemented in the Senate decree of January 22, 1724. Those invited to work there included mathematicians Leonard Euler, Christian Goldbach, Nicholas and Daniel Bernoulli, embryologists Caspar Friedrich Wolff, Karl Ernst von Baer, astronomer and geographer Joseph-Nicolas Delisle, physicist Georg Wolfgang Kraft and historian Gerhard Friedrich Müller.

Expeditions to explore remote parts of the country had Academy scientists as their leaders or most active participants. These included Vitus Bering's Second Kamchatka Expedition of 1733–43, and Peter Simon Pallas's expeditions to Siberia.

In 1925 the Soviet government recognized the Russian Academy of Sciences as the "highest all-Union scientific institution" and renamed it the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. The USSR Academy of Sciences helped to establish national Academies of Sciences in all Soviet republics (with the exception of Russia), in many cases delegating prominent scientists to live and work in other republics.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, by decree of the President of the Russian Federation of December 2, 1991, Russian Academy of Sciences was restored, inheriting all facilities of the USSR Academy of Sciences in the territory of Russia.

The Russian Academy of Sciences includes a large number of educational and research institutions such as

Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics

Ioffe Physico-Technical Institute

Keldysh Institute of Applied Mathematics

Komarov Botanical Institute

Lebedev Institute of Precision Mechanics and Computer Engineering

Lebedev Physical Institute

Landau Institute for Theoretical Physics

Steklov Institute of Mathematics

Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology does not belong to RAS (it belongs to Department of Education of Russian Federation), but the system of education ("Phystech System") uses many institutes of RAS (as well as many others institutions) as educational centers.

Member institutions are linked by a dedicated Russian Space Science Internet (RSSI). The RSSI, starting with just 3 members, now has 3100 members, including 57 of the largest research institutions.