Архивы Olga Orlova — Т-инвариант / T-invariant

“The management has started to say more often that we need a sovereign science”

In episode 13 of the podcast "Invasion: Science in a Time of War", two scientists anonymously talk about how it is possible to meet fellow travellers at the "Noon Against Putin" rally even in an Orthodox church, why professors fear denunciations from students, and how to maintain a rigorous professional level when Russian social sciences and humanities have been set back twenty years.

Invasion

“Don’t write on the faculty website that Putin is a fool and everything will be fine.”

In episode 12 of the podcast Invasion: Science in a Time of War, two scientists talk anonymously about how hard it is to leave Russia, how internal emigration helps them keep their sanity, why they can no longer discuss the war with colleagues, the difficulty of understanding the true position of the leadership, and what they think about the turn of Russian science to the East.

Sociologist Nika Kostenko: “Time works against the return of those who left”

At the beginning of March 2022, graduate students of the European University in Florence Emil Kamalov and Ivetta Sergeeva, political scientist Margarita Zavadskaya and sociologist Nika Kostenko launched a sociological project OutRush, during which they surveyed three waves of those who left. Who are these people, what do they do, what do they think about returning home, what do they hope for? Nika Kostenko, a researcher at Tel Aviv University, talks about the results of the T-invariant study.

“If the reform of Russian science begins in ten years, then there will be no one to return”

The Reforum has published five tasks for the restoration of Russian science, proposed by T-invariant editor-in-chief Olga Orlova.

Special academic operation.
How the FSB has been persecuting scientists who signed a letter against the war with Ukraine for two years in a row

T-invariant opens a series of publications related to the second anniversary of the war with Ukraine. In the first investigation, we tell how the FSB of the Russian Federation launched the largest “case of scientists” in modern Russia, pursuing the signatories of an anti-war letter throughout the country.

Sergei Abramov: “I’m afraid that Russia is shooting itself not in the foot, but in the head”

In 2023, the FSB began subjecting dissenters to punitive psychiatry. Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Sergei Abramov left the psychiatric hospital after the examination and became familiar with the updated version of the charges. T-invariant spoke with the scientist about his life with the “extremist” label, his political views and the reasons for the security forces’ attack on the Russian supercomputer industry.

Mikhail Feigelman: “I’m looking for tall poppy who are interested in science, not just an academic career”.

How did the idea come about to build an “island of academic intelligence” using Google Quantum? How to create conditions under which students will pursue science and not a career? Explains the initiator of the PhD program in quantum condensed matter physics QT Future at the University of Ljubljana Mikhail Feigelman.

War
History

“Israel was not created for Jews to run around in bomb shelters.” How the war turned the peaceful life of Israelis upside down

Important Stories published a text by T-invariant editor-in-chief Olga Orlova about how the Israelis were left alone with the war. A third of students are at the front, small businesses are on the verge of collapse, volunteers are saving farmers.

War
History

Death in avocado orchards. How volunteers searched for terrorist attack victims in Israel

The number of Israelis abducted during the terrorist attack on October 7, whose identities have been identified, has reached 210 people. However, it is not yet known how many people remain alive and how many are killed. In southern Israel, where fighting is still ongoing, small volunteer groups were searching for missing people. Zoologist Alexandra Panyutina worked in one of them. At the request of T-invariant, Alexandra tried to reconstruct the picture of the tragedy that occurred.

Andrei Yakovlev: “Through the FSB, HSE was transferred from the economic security service to the service for the protection of the constitutional order and the fight against terrorism”

Why did the Higher School of Economics find itself in the worst position among all the new famous universities that emerged in post-Soviet Russia? At what point did the era of solidarity with state ideology begin at the university? Was the pressure on Yaroslav Kuzminov pressure on the university itself or on the head of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, Elvira Nabiullina? What are the reasons and consequences of including the HSE on the sanctions list? Explains former vice-rector of the National Research University Higher School of Economics Andrei Yakovlev.

Viktor Yampolsky: “The postal address does not matter”

On October 14-15, the annual RASA conference will be held in Chicago. This year it is dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the birth of Sergei Rachmaninov. We discussed what Rachmaninov’s creative experience of emigration teaches, why his works were banned and allowed to be performed again in the USSR, and whether classical music will stand the test of time in a conversation with the honorary speaker of the conference, the conductor who performed all of Rachmaninov’s works, professor, Director of the Orchestra Northwestern University Music Biehnen School Viktor Yampolsky. Interviewed by Olga Orlova.

“Putin has done so many bad things that it would be very helpful to simply reverse these decisions.” Sergei Guriev — on future reforms

What is the extent of ideologization of education in Russia? Why will it be impossible to carry out lustration in the field of education? What awaits researchers in Russia and Ukraine after the war? What are the prospects for economic reforms in Ukraine? T-invariant spoke with Sergei Guriev, Provost of Sciences Po University in Paris.

Hypersound silence. How scientists become the prey of the FSB

Three physicists were arrested in so called "Novosibirsk case". It wasn’t the first time. Previously, four scientists were also accused of treason in different years. All of the scientists accused in all these cases participated in the projects of the seventh framework program of the European Union "TransHyBerian" (coordinator — Von Karman Institute of Hydrodynamics, Belgium). However, the interlocutors and sources of T-invariant suggest that the contacts of scientists with China and Iran are only an excuse, not the reason for the arrests.

«In matters of climate, Russia cannot be removed from the globe»

The military-industrial complex is one of the dirtiest industries in terms of its impact on climate and the environment, even in peacetime. It is especially harmful to the planet during active combat operations. Why was Russia not excluded from the global climate process after February 24, 2022? Climate policy experts Marianna Poberezhskaya and Olga Dobrovidova explain.

War as a crisis of rationality

How science helps resist the archaic, explains Eugene Koonin, Senior Investigator at the National Center for Biotechnology Information at the U.S. National Institutes of Health.

Where will cultural evolution lead us?

How do random variability, heredity, and selection work in cultural evolution? Wars as fluctuations in cultural evolution, lessons from Franklin's missing expedition, hierarchy of prestige, copying of skills, level of trust and natural selection of ideas, competitive environments without wars — Alexander Markov talks about all this in episode 4 of the podcast «Invasion».

Alexander Markov on War in terms of Cultural Evolution

Is modern war in terms of cultural evolution the norm or the terrible exception? Was Steven Pinker wrong when he wrote his book «The Best in Us: Why There's Less Violence in the World»? Aleksandr Markov, doctor of biological sciences, argues in episode 3 of Olga Orlova's podcast «Invasion. Science in a Time of War.»

Elena Bunina: «I was saved by mathematics»

«I will not go back: I cannot work in a country that is at war with its neighbors,» Yelena Bunina, CEO of Russia's Yandex, wrote to colleagues in early March 2022 and did not return to Russia from vacation. Today, Elena Bunina, a professor at Bar Ilan University talks about the losses and gains of the past year.

Philosophical scooter: How does academic solidarity work in an age of catastrophe?

The war caused the largest and fastest «brain drain» from Russia since the early 1990s. What is the peculiarity of this wave? T-invariant launches a series of videos titled «Philosophical Scooter». Первый выпуск: «Brain Drain: How Scientists Go to Israel». We discuss with Yakov Krasik, Professor, Department of Physics, Professor, Department of Physics, The Technion – Israel Institute of Technology.

From high-ranking fakers today to Phystech’s shutdown tomorrow

Why do we need an honest examination of science in Russia today? And is it really needed? Why has Russian society failed to demand for quality education in the humanities and social sciences? Why do we need Dissernet in a country where rational thinking is suppressed? Episode 2. The Invasion Podcast.

The Relic Radiation of Mathematics

How Russian mathematics lost to the war. Is there any chance, in the conditions of external isolation, to preserve a living system of mathematical knowledge in Russia through international solidarity, personal connections, and secret online teaching?

The Marshall Plan for Ukrainian Science

Science during war with the voices of scientists from Ukraine. Why Ukrainian scientists are not given scientific visas to the USA and other countries? How to help scientists who stay to work in Ukraine? What kind of science is possible in Ukraine of the future? Episode 1. Podcast Invasion.