THE BALTIC REPUBLICS - New beginnings for research

1. KO PASIEKĖME IR KO SIEKIAME?10 metų Norvegijos tyrimų tarybosLietuvos mokslo įvertinimuiE. ButkusLietuvos mokslo tarybaApskritojo stalo diskusija Prezidentūroje2006 05 10

2. THE BALTIC REPUBLICS  -  New beginnings for research EU membership was a particularly notable event in the history of the three Baltic republics. As members of the former USSR, the advanced economies of Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia had been directed firmly eastwards. Their highly developed scientific life was organised on the Soviet model around two central pillars: the academies of science and military research. It was this entire system that had to be dismantled before a new one could be erected. Not surprisingly, the process was far from painless.

3. In 90’s began to structure science around a principle unknown in the Soviet era: evaluation of the quality of a project by the peer group. This ‘self-management’ free of government interference lasted until 1992 . An important initiative to help anchor the Baltic republics in Europe was the request for an external audit. In 1991, Estonia requested the opinion of the Swedish Royal Academy of Sciences. The following year, Latvia made a similar application to the Danish Research Council followed, in 1995, by Lithuania’s request to be evaluated by the Norwegian Research Council.

4. These audits by Scandinavian experts, with financial assistance from the EU, were to play a major role in restructuring the Baltic research systems. Their principal recommendations – closer links between research and higher education, growth in student numbers, simplification of structures, evaluation on the basis of quality only – were to be applied to the letter in Estonia and Latvia, and to a lesser degree, in Lithuania.

5. What results did these reforms achieve? That was the question posed by the European Commission in 1997 in the context of the pre-accession negotiations. The experts found that they had served to relaunch fundamental research on solid bases. The centres of excellence policy under the Fifth Framework Programme subsequently generated financing that proved very useful for the modernisation and international renown of the best laboratories. On the other hand, the organisation of applied research and the industrial exploitation of the results of fundamental research remained insufficient. Also, while the number of publications had increased, the registration of patents was declining.

6. Ekspertizių vaidmuoNorvegijos Lietuvos mokslo vertinimasPasaulio banko ekspertizė „Lietuva žinių ekonomikos link” 2003m. ir 2005 m. – aukštojo mokslo finansavimo ekspertizėNorvegijos vertinimas nepakankamai paskelbtas – nėra internete, neišversta į lietuvių k.

7. To establish a research council systemTo reorganize universities and research institutesTo give university teachers more time to do researchTo increase international contacts and cooperationTo improve the situation substantially with regards to:- scientific equipment-libraries-computers and IT facilities

8. Research of low quality is dangerous even when relevant, because it may create false authority.We recommend that the criteria for becoming qualified for a professorship be reconsidered. We suggest that one criterion should be to have published at least two articles in international peer-reviewed journals (Philosophy, Modern History, Political Science, Sociology)

9. Iš esmės pagerinti ir pertvarkyti mokslo finansavimą.

10. 1.4. Parengti Lietuvos Respublikos Vyriausybės nutarimo projektą dėl valstybės finansuojamų vietų skaičiaus studijoms aukštosiose mokyklose (nurodant specialybes, kursus, studijų formas) 1.5. Parengti valstybės kreditų suteikimo studentams, priimtiems į valstybės finansuojamas vietas, nuostatus. 1.6. Parengti konkursinio (programinio) mokslo tyrimų finansavimo nuostatus ir numatyti lėšų paskirstymo pagal mokslo sritis (kryptis) būdus, paraiškų teikimo ir ekspertizės tvarką, sprendimų priėmimo tvarką, sutartinio finansavimo ir atsiskaitymo taisykles.

16. Uždaviniai • Ekspertizės rezultatus panaudoti nuosekliam mokslo reformos planui. • Pertvarkyti mokslo valdymo ir finansavimo sistemą, įkuriant tyrimų tarybas. Vykdyti tarptautinę mokslo ir studijų sistemos vertinimų praktiką. • Padidinti konkursinį programinį finansavimą tyrimams • Užbaigti mokslinių tyrimų institutų reformą. • Esminiams pertvarkymams įgyvendinti panaudoti struktūrinių fondų galimybės.