Improving the Mechanisms for Attracting Foreign Researchers to World-Class Research Centres: Practical Aspects

Introduction. According to the target indicators of the national project “Science” in the six-year period from 2019 to 2024 inclusive, a network of world-class research centres (WCRC) should be created in Russia to carry out research and development in mathematics, genetics, and other priority areas of scientific and technological development in Russia. As the new centres are predicated upon a completely new vision of the organisation of Russian science in a global context, to achieve maximum effectiveness, certain measures must be taken to simplify migration regimes for foreign citizens who plan to conduct scientific and/or pedagogical activities in the Russian Federation. Methods. To study the experience of other countries, as well as the experience of leading Russian universities and research organisations in simplifying migration policies for foreign scientists, this article uses comparative and retrospective methods of analysis; to develop proposals for simplifying the entry procedure for foreign scientists participating in WCRC projects, the deductive method is used. Results and Discussion. It is recommended that: 1) organisations where the world-class research centres have been set up, as well as organisations participating in world-class research centres, should use the best Russian practices for attracting foreign researchers developed and adopted by Skolkovo, the Higher School of Economics, Tomsk State University, The A. Steklov Mathematics Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and others; 2) amendments should be made to Federal Law No. 115-FZ dated 25 July 2002 in the form of a new article outlining special conditions for the entry of foreign researchers into Russia and their employment by organisations affiliated with Russian worldclass research centres (this category of foreign nationals will not need to obtain a work permit, the time for reviewing their application to enter Russia should be reduced from 14 to 5 days, etc.); 3) amendments are to be made to the Russian Government's Resolution No. 335 dated 9 June 2003, to reduce the time it takes to issue a visa to researchers employed by Russian worldclass research centres from 20 to 10 business days from the date the application is submitted, plus a new type of visa is to be introduced and issued to such individuals: a research visa. Conclusion. The recommendations made in this article on how to improve the migration policy for foreign researchers who plan to take part in projects run by Russian world-class research centres may in future be considered by specialised agencies when making management decisions, as well as used as the foundation of new amendments to regulatory documents governing migration. The proposed amendments may subsequently become an impetus for more active efforts to draw the attention of the international scientific community to the work carried out by Russian world-class research centres and for more concerted efforts to bring more world-class researchers onboard in research and development efforts taking place in Russia.