Professor of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Professor of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Professor of the RAS, or RAS Professor; Russian: Профе́ссор Росси́йской акаде́мии нау́к – Proféssor Rossíiskoj akadémii naúk) is an academic rank introduced in 2015 by the RAS to be conferred to distinguished Russian scientists from all fields, who are not yet members of the Academy. Research achievements of RAS Professors are supposed to be higher than those of an ordinary university professor but their teaching experience may be relatively modest. Along with its role as an academic rank, “RAS Professor” is an honorary title emphasizing merits of an individual.

As a concept, the RAS Professorship was originally proposed by the Presidium of RAS and its President Vladimir Fortov, the motivation being to boost an involvement of top researches from the younger generation of Russian scientists in the functioning of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

The formal prerequisites for the rank of a RAS Professor are Russian citizenship, affiliation with some RAS institution or accredited university, the academic degree of Doctor of Sciences ("Doktor nauk", a Russian equivalent to the second degree in countries with a two-tier system of doctoral degrees), and the candidate's being under 50 years of age at the time the award is to be granted.

The key factors taken into account when RAS Professors are elected include recognized scientific results and records of publications in peer-reviewed journals, along with the candidate's authoring books and patents, advising PhD works etc. A candidacy is to be suggested by a RAS member and approved by the scientific council of his/her respective institution. Apart from the recommendation and the age constraint, the requirements are similar, though not identical, to those imposed by the Higher Attestation Commission in Russia for the traditional (i.e. not RAS) professor rank. The election is a two-stage process comprising the primary round in the pertinent RAS Department and a confirmation through the vote in the RAS Presidium.

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