The Perception of the Project 5-100 by University Employees

Abstract

We analyze the impact of the Russian excellence initiative Project 5-100. In particular, we consider its impact on research activities at participant universities as viewed by their research and teaching staff. The study is based on qualitative semi-structured interviews with 83 respondents from four universities: two regional, one located in Moscow, and one in Saint Petersburg. Overall, the respondents considered the program as a positive development. However, half of them expressed critical views on the program’s objectives and how the program was implemented at particular universities. The primary positive outcomes include the improved quality of publications (perceived as particularly important by the staff of regional universities) and international cooperation (most frequently mentioned in Moscow and Saint Petersburg universities). Critical views concerned the methods for boosting the publication records, and the growing bureaucracy, partly associated with performance evaluation. Suggested areas for improvement included more extensive involvement of students in research and better cooperation with industry and state research institutions. The latter was in contrast to the academic excellence initiatives implemented abroad, which appeared to have the opposite effect. In Russia, a new initiative Priority-2030 provides an opportunity to address the deficiencies of Project 5-100. We recommend reducing pressure to publish, de-emphasizing the formal bibliometric evaluation of performance, supporting and encouraging activities that have a synergetic effect on research (e.g., educational, innovational, sociocultural), and extending financial planning in universities to a three- to five-year horizon.