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16_9

Ekaterina Zhuravskaya: “Expectations from the sanctions were clearly too high”

One of the winners of the George Gamow Prize this year was Ekaterina Zhuravskaya, a professor at the Paris School of Economics. In an interview with T-invariant, she told how modern economic science works, whether it is possible to evaluate the results of sanctions and what studies of Goebbels’ propaganda can tell us about the current military mobilization of Russian society.

To dig or not to dig? Will the construction of a museum centre hinder the salvation of the Novgorod birch-bark literatures?

“The Troitsk excavation under threat”, “The last chance to learn our history”, “Archaeologists ask for help ” – only a small part of the publications that appeared this autumn. Fears of losing ancient Novgorod literatures are connected with the construction of the historical and archaeological centre, which is due to start this year.

“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.

Why do we run the T-invariant

The T-invariant is a media with the mission to constantly remind us of timeless civilizational invariants, and to unite the community of people who hold them as living values.

16_9

“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.
Rost-0-16_9

Cultural Layer. An Essay on the Biography and Scientific Activity of Mikhail Rostovtsev

The fourteenth essay from the series “Creators” is dedicated to Mikhail Ivanovich Rostovtsev, an outstanding archaeologist and historian of Antiquity, professor at St. Petersburg University and professor at Yale University, who made a huge contribution to historical science. Together with RASA (Russian-American Science Association), T-invariant continues publishing the series of biographical essays “Creators”
16_9-2

…but it is possible to sell authorship. How a Moscow company forges scientific articles and places them in foreign journals

Recently, American scientist Sam Payne received a review of his own article published three years earlier, but now its authors were five employees of Sechenov University. So the world scientific community learnt about the Russian company “International Publisher”, which is engaged in the production of fake scientific articles and places them for money in major foreign journals. More details – in the material T-invariant.
16_9 (1)

Global Challenges and the Search for Harmony in the Context of the Sakharov Paradigm

The problems of various countries, including Russia, Ukraine, Israel, the USA and China, are part of the global agenda of the future of humanity, including technological and humanistic issues that are being revised today and worry many of us. About the new “dispute of physicists and lyricists” in the context of the Sakharov paradigm “Peace, progress, human rights” – in the column of the professor of the University of North Carolina Alexander Kabanov.
16_9-4

Selecting the best vs academic equality: why DEI practices are not catching on in Germany

A recent article by a group of American professors on the introduction of DEI into university practice in the United States has caused a wide resonance. To what extent can DEI be considered a purely American phenomenon, and to what extent has it been assimilated by academic communities in other countries? Germany is a curious example. This is the subject of an article prepared for T-invariant by Alexander Libman, Doctor of Economics, Professor of Russian and East European Politics at the Free University of Berlin.
16_9-3

“Sunny Peak” of Sparrow Hills.
How big computational science at Moscow State University became secret and what Putin’s daughter has to do with it

Moscow State University has announced the creation of the “world’s second or third most powerful” supercomputer, having purchased components for it through a Chinese firm trading on AliExpress. T-invariant tells us how, under conditions of total sanctions on Sparrow Hills, they managed to assemble a classified computing complex and what Vladimir Putin’s daughter Katerina Tikhonova and her Institute of Artificial Intelligence have to do with it.
16_9-3

Non-free laser on free electrons. How scientists from Russia lost the opportunity to work on a unique facility?

As of 30 November, Russian scientists will no longer have access to the facilities of the European Organisation for Nuclear Research. This is not the only scientific instrument to which access has been closed due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. T-invariant takes the example of the European XFEL free electron laser to understand what this means for science and what scientists who have lost access to this state-of-the-art research method are doing.
16_9 (1)

Acting deputy director of IPPI RAS became a scientist with a scandalous reputation

In early September, it became known that Dmitry Repin, who previously held the position of Advisor to the Rector of the Russian Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, was appointed Acting Deputy Director of IPPI RAS. The appointment took place against the background of the ongoing public conflict between the scientific staff of the institute and the recently appointed acting director of IPPI Maxim Fedorov. T-invariant tells what is known about the new administrator of the institute.
16_9

“Competent” assistants: how “Dissernet” defendants advise the Ministry of Education and Science

Students of the “School of District Anti-Corruption” together with Groza and T-Invariant studied the composition of expert councils at the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation. It turned out that more than 10 per cent of the experts who influence decision-making “on the most important issues of the ministry’s activities” are plagiarists and violators of academic ethics.
16_9-3

What is happening to the vessel Akademik Nikolai Strakhov and to the Russian scientific fleet

In the Kara Sea, for the second week now, a drama has been developing around the research vessel “Akademik Nikolay Strakhov”, which is stuck there. T-invariant describes the broad context of the problem and tells what role Mikhail Kovalchuk can play in the emergency, who tried in the summer to bring the Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences into the structure of his Kurchatov Center.

Chronicles of persecution of scientists

T-invariant and CISRUS launched a chronicle of violations of the rights and freedoms of scientists and teachers
Updates: Andrey Boyarshinov, Dmitry Ivanov, Valery Golubkin, Boris Kagarlitsky, Svetlana Drugoveyko-Dolzhanskaya.
Additions: Alexander Lukanin, Alexey Vorobyov.

Dismissals, fines, stigmatization, criminal cases, torture — all this awaits in Russia those who are trying to tell the truth, oppose war, protect peace, criticize the authorities or simply honestly do their academic and teaching work .
T-invariant and the CISRUS Centerwill work together to chronicle the persecution of scientists in Russia for as long as it continues. If you have witnessed or been the target of academic harassment, please contact us at [email protected].
The chronicle records violations of the rights and freedoms of scientists and teachersas citizens of the Russian Federation, as well as violations of their academic rights and freedoms by the leadership of their scientific institution.
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Svetlana Drugoveyko-Dolzhanskaya

Date of incident: September 29, 2023
Type of violation: the ethics commission of St. Petersburg State University demanded dismissal
Institution: St. Petersburg State University

Summary: On September 29, 2023, a meeting of the St. Petersburg State University Ethics Commission was held. The Commission received an appeal from Vice-Rector for Legal Affairs Yu. V. Penov with a request to provide an ethical assessment of the actions and behavior of the senior teacher of the Russian Language Department S. V. Drugoveyko-Dolzhanskaya. The commission came to the conclusion “that the actions of S. V. Drugoveyko-Dolzhanskaya are incompatible with the status of a university student at St. Petersburg State University.”

Sources: Paper, Decision of the St. Petersburg State University Ethics Commission
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Gleb Verdian

Date of the incident: September 7, 2023
Type of violation: conviction for treason
Institution: Astrakhan State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering

Summary: The Moscow City Court has sentenced 21-year-old student of the Astrakhan State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering, Gleb Verdiyan, to six years' imprisonment in a strict penal colony for treason against the state (Article 275 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). This was announced by the press service of the courts of general jurisdiction in Moscow. In addition to the prison term, Verdiyan was sentenced to a fine of 200 thousand rubles and a restriction of liberty for one year.

Sources: Current Time, Mediazona, BBC News
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Valery Garbuzov
Date of the incident: September 1, 2023
Type of violation: Dismissal
Institution: Georgy Arbatov Institute for U.S. and Canada Studies Russian Academy of Sciences (RAN)

Summary: Russian historian and political scientist Valery Garbuzov confirmed to TASS on September 2 that he was dismissed from his post as director of the Institute for U.S. and Canada of RAN, at the initiative of the founder:" Yes, yesterday an order was signed to terminate my contract. The reason as such is not stated there, there is such an article of the employment contract - at the initiative of the founder, that's how it is formulated."

Source: TASS, "Nezavisimaya Gazeta"
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Azat Miftakhov

Date of incident: 25 August 2023
Type of violation: a criminal case on justification of terrorism was initiated
Institution: Lomonosov Moscow State University, Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics

Summary: A criminal case was opened against mathematician Azat Miftakhov, who in 2021 was sentenced to six years in a penal colony on charges of breaking a window in a United Russia office, for justifying terrorism (Article 205.2 Part 1 of the Criminal Code). On 17 August, Rosfinmonitoring added Miftakhov to the register of terrorists and extremists. At that time it was not officially reported under which article the mathematician was charged.

Sources: RTVI (Telegram channel), Mediazona
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Yulia Galyamina

Date: August 25, 2023
The court declared the dismissal illegal
Institution: RANEPA

Summary: The Koptevsky District Court of Moscow partially satisfied the claim of former municipal deputy, associate professor Yulia Galyamina, who challenged her dismissal from the Russian Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA). This is stated on the court's website. In Galyamina’s telegram channel writes: “I was reinstated at RANEPA as an assistant professor. They collected 115 thousand for illegal dismissal. Of these, 10 are compensation for moral damage (we asked for 500).”

Sources: Telegram channel of Yulia Galyamina, Mediazona, court website
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Boris Kagarlitsky

Date of incident: July 26, 2023
Type of violation: arrest, charge of justifying terrorism, fine
Institution: Moscow Higher School of Social and Economic Sciences (Shaninka)

Summary: July 26, 2023 The Syktyvkar City Court arrested sociologist and political scientist Boris Kagarlitsky (recognized as a foreign agent in the Russian Federation in 2018) for two months on charges of calls for terrorism. On September 21, 2023, by decision of the Syktyvkar court, the deadline was extended until November 24, 2023. On September 26, 2023, the Savyolovsky Court of Moscow fined Boris Kagarlitsky (included in the list of terrorists and extremists) 40 thousand rubles for not identifying a foreign agent in his publications.

Sources: Gazeta.ru, TASS from September 21, 2023, TASS from September 26, 2023.
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Alina Olekhnovich, Ivan Trofimov
Date of incident: July 26, 2023
Type of violation: house arrest
Institution: Higher School of Economics

Summary: The Basmanny District Court of Moscow placed 22-year-old Ivan Trofimov and 21-year-old Alina Olekhnovich under house arrest until September 24 in the case of participation in the activities of an extremist organization. Trofimova and Olekhnovich are students of the National Research University Higher School of Economics, according to the university’s website, both are studying in the field of “cinema and video art” at the Department of Contemporary Art. Propagandist Vladimir Solovyov wrote about the detention of young people in his Telegram channel.

Source: Mediazona
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Mikhail Lobanov
Date of incident: July 7, 2023
Type of violation: dismissal
Institution: Moscow State University

Summary: On June 23, the Ministry of Justice recognized candidate of physical and mathematical sciences Mikhail Lobanov as a foreign agent, which technically prohibits him from teaching. Lobanov writes: “I saw a photo of the order dismissing me from the position of associate professor of mechanics and mathematics at Moscow State University. The order is dated July 7, issued and signed on behalf of the acting. Rector of Moscow State University by Vice-Rector Andrei Fedyanin.”

Source: RBC
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Center of Historical Memory
Date of incident: July 4, 2023
Type of violation: violation of autonomy
Institution: Center of Historical Memory, Perm

Summary: On July 4, the Center for Historical Memory (successor to the Perm department of the human rights research organization Memorial) was fined 300 thousand rubles in the case of “discrediting” the Russian army (Article 20.3.3 Part 1 Administrative Code). Since the decision was made in absentia, the exact reason for drawing up the protocol is currently unknown. Presumably, the reason could have been the appeal of the International Memorial on February 24 last year on the Perm Memorial website. The same domain is now used by the Center for Historical Memory.

Source: PROPERM.RU
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Mikhail Belousov

Date of incident: 06/02/2023
Type of violation: dismissal
Institution: St. Petersburg State University

Summary: The management of St. Petersburg State University (SPbSU) dismissed Mikhail Belousov, associate professor at the Institute of History, for distributing materials “discrediting the conduct of a special military operation by the armed forces of the Russian Federation and insulting the memory of those killed in the line of military duty.” The decision was justified by the fact that criticism of the war “violates the moral traditions of the university and generally accepted ethical standards.”

Sources: Mediazona, Fontanka
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Alexandra Arkhipova
Date of incident: May 26, 2023
Type of violation: declared as a foreign agent
Institution: independent researcher
Summary: The message from the Ministry of Justice says: “A.S. Arkhipova in cooperation with foreign agents took part in the production of some certain materials and participated in the distribution of these materials to an unlimited number of people. She disseminated false information about the activities of government bodies of the Russian Federation and the actions of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. She opposed the special military operation in Ukraine”.

Sources:: Interfax, FB Ivan Kurilla, E1.
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Sergey Chernyshov
Date of incident: May 26, 2023
Type of violation: recognition by a foreign agent, dismissal
Institution: Novosibirsk Novocollege

Summary: On May 26, college director Sergey Chernyshov was recognized as a foreign agent. The main reason is the refusal to hold "Conversations about the Important" in the college. For some time he remained the director. As Chernyshov wrote in his VK, a foreign agent cannot teach, but he can organize the learning process, that is, he can work as a director. But this state did not last long - on June 15, Chernyshov left the post of director of the New College.

Sources: Siberia.Realities, VK by Sergey Chernyshov (posts on May 26 and June 15)
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Mordovian State University

Date of incident: May 22, 2023
Type of violation: forced voting
Institution: Mordovia State University

Synopsis: Rector Dmitry Glushko forced students of Mordovian State University to vote for him in the United Russia primaries. The demands were distributed through the Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Law, Irina Ginzburg. Glushko plans to become a member of the regional parliament.

Source: telegram channel SOTA
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Natalia Podolyak
Date of incident: May 11, 2023
Type of violation: dismissal
Institution: Siberian Institute of Business, Management and Psychology

Brief: Teacher and activist Natalia Podolyak was fired from the Siberian Institute of Business, Management and Psychology, where she ran a sports club. The motivational part of the order states that the dismissal was caused by violations of the law on countering extremism and violations of labor duties. Earlier, Natalia Podolyak was fined for discrediting the Russian army in connection with her comment that the Russian military in Ukraine is fighting "on foreign soil." In addition, in 2020 she was sentenced to 10 days for “insulting the police.” According to Podolyak, she had no disciplinary sanctions for her work.

Sources: Radio Liberty, Natalia's FB post Podolyak (order of dismissal)
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Sergey Abramov
Date of incident: April 12, 2023
Type of violation: arrest
Institution: A. K. Ailamazyan Program Systems Institute of RAS

Summary: Corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Sergei Abramov was arrested under the article on financing extremism (Part 1 of Article 282.3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). By a resolution of the Pereslavsky District Court of the Yaroslavl Region dated April 12, 2023, a preventive measure was chosen against him in the form of house arrest for a period until June 10, 2023. House arrest was extended until August 10. On this charge, Abramov faces up to 5 years in prison in accordance with Part 1 of Art. 282.3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

More details in T-invariant
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Valery Zvegintsev, Anatoly Maslov, Alexander Shiplyuk
Date of incident: April 7, 2023
Type of violation: arrest
Institution: Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Summary: On April 7, Valery Zvegintsev, Doctor of Technical Sciences, founder of the laboratory "Aerogasdynamics of High Velocities" of the Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, was arrested. Earlier, two more employees of the Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences Anatoly Maslov and Alexander Shiplyuk were arrested. All of them became suspects in a criminal case on “high treason” (Article 275 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).

More about this case wrote by T-invariant
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Pavel Kolosnitsyn
Date of incident: April 6, 2023
Type of violation: fine
Institution: Novgorod University

Synopsis: In January, police drew up an administrative report against archaeologist Pavel Kolosnitsyn from Novgorod University for his comment on a post about mobilization, in which he assessed Russia’s losses in Ukraine. On February 21, the court fined Kolosnitsyn 30 thousand rubles. for abuse of freedom of the media (part 9 of article 13.15 of the Administrative Code). The scientist said he would appeal the decision. On April 6, the Novgorod District Court left the court decision unchanged. Earlier, Kolosnitsyn said that a denunciation against him was written by an acquaintance from another city.
Source: North.Realities
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Free University
Date of incident: March 31, 2023
Type of violation: persecution, violation of autonomy
Institution: Free University

Summary: In 2021, the organizers registered the Free University NGO in Latvia. On March 31, 2023, the Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation recognized the activity of the educational project as "undesirable". Russian laws make it possible to bring citizens to administrative and then criminal liability for any "participation in the activities" of such organizations.

Sources: T -invariant, Free University
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Oleg Orlov
Date of incident: March 21, 2023
Type of violation: accusation of repeated discrediting of the Russian Army
Institution: Memorial. Human Rights Center
Summary: As Interfax reported on March 21: “A criminal case has been opened against former board member of the liquidated International Memorial Society (convicted as a foreign agent in the Russian Federation) Oleg Orlov for re-discrediting the Russian Armed Forces”. The case was initiated under Article 280.3 Part 1 (on the repeated discrediting). The maximum punishment provided for this crime is imprisonment for a term of up to three years. A prohibition of departure was chosen as a preventive action.

Sources:: Interfax, FB Center Memorial.
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Moscow Aviation Institute
Date of incident: March 20, 2023
Type of violation: coercion to sign a summons to the military enlistment office to receive a diploma
Institution: Moscow Aviation Institute

Brief: Students of the Moscow Aviation Institute who graduated from the specialist's programs reported that they are being refused diplomas until they sign the summons to the military registration and enlistment office. One of the students said that along with the diploma, it is required to sign a summons in the office where diplomas are issued, and he sits as a military commissar. This takes place in the branch of the institute on the Taganskaya metro station.
Source: Radio Liberty, RBC
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Penza State University
Date of incident: March 16, 2023
Type of violation: coercion to sign a summons to the military enlistment office to receive a diploma
Institution: Penza State University

Summary: In March 2023, Andrey Surkov, military commissar of the Penza Region, announced that Penza State University graduates will receive subpoenas along with their diplomas to be registered in their military specialty.. An agreement has been reached only with this university. Surkov said that the call for military training is over - there are more than 140 people. At the same time, Surkov said that the following agendas would be annulled.
Source: telegram channel Idel.Realii
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Viktor Novogorsky
Date of incident: March 15, 2023
Violation type: expulsion
Institution: Mari State University

Summary: Third-year student Viktor Novogorsky was expelled from the Mari State University. Failure was cited as the official reason. However, the Mari Ushem organization believes that the student was expelled due to his participation in the activities of this organization, aimed at raising the self-awareness of the Mari people.

Source: Idel.Realities
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Konstantin Miroshnikov
Date of incident: March 15, 2023
Type of violation: dismissal
Institution: Moscow International University

Synopsis: Konstantin Miroshnikov, teacher of the Introduction to Journalism course and former employee of Echo of Moscow radio station, was dismissed by agreement of the parties from Moscow International University. The dismissal was the result of denunciations. According to the author of one of the denunciations, Miroshnikov gave students a report on the topic “A journalist and his activities.” When grading, the opinions of the teacher and the student regarding the text about the VGTRK employee differed, a denunciation was written against the teacher, and Konstantin Miroshnikov was fired.

Source: Radio Liberty
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Nikita Menshov
Date of incident: March 11, 2023
Type of violation: arrest
Institution: Ural State Law University

Summary: Freshman Nikita Menshov has become a new defendant in a criminal case of high treason. On March 11, at 5:35 am, Menshov was detained in Vladikavkaz by a patrol of the police department No. 2 of the Zaterechny district for 15 days for "obscene language." But on March 25, he was not released. On May 11, TASS, citing the secret service, claimed that Menshov was suspected of trying to go over to the side of the enemy. The agency calls it an "attempt" to commit treason.

Source: BBC Russian
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SOVA Center
Date of incident: March 10, 2023
Type of violation: violation of autonomy
Institution: Information and Analytical SOVA Center

Brief: On March 10, the Ministry of Justice filed a lawsuit to liquidate Information and Analysis SOVA Center. The lawsuit was filed as a result of an unscheduled inspection that took place in the organization from January 9 to February 4. “Violations” the department considered the participation of SOVA in events outside of Moscow - seminars and round tables in the Russian regions, as well as online conferences of the OSCE. All these “violations” were confirmed by employees of the Ministry of Justice with screenshots from SOVA website. The organization is currently appealing this decision.

Source: OVD-Info< /a>
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Elena Kabakova
Date of incident: March 7, 2023
Type of violation: fine
Institution: Pyatigorsk State University

Summary: The court fined Elena Kabakova, an associate professor at Pyatigorsk State University, 30,000 rubles under an article about discrediting the army because of her pacifist statements in a conversation with students.
Source: Caucasian Knot
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Students of St. Petersburg State Agrarian University
Date of incident: January 26, 2023
Type of violation: threat of expulsion
Institution: College of St. Petersburg State Agrarian University "Tourism"

Summary: St. Petersburg State Agrarian University college students Ekaterina and Anastasia were summoned to the dean's office because they subscribed to the Smart Voting project's mailing list. They are threatened with expulsion, but the management claims that this is due to poor academic performance, although the recording of the conversation does not correspond to this. Both students claim that they signed up for the mailing list before the summer of 2021, that is, before the Smart Voting project was recognized as extremist.
Source: Fontanka
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Artem Izgagin
Date of incident: January 1, 2023
Type of violation: fine
Institution: Pervouralsk Metallurgical College

Summary: On January 11, Artem Izgagin, a mathematics teacher from the Pervouralsk Metallurgical College, was convicted of discrediting the Russian army. The court imposed a fine of 40 thousand rubles. After the start of the special operation, he posted several posts on social networks, in which the court saw "discrediting the army." State Duma deputy Alexander Khinshtein demanded that the teacher be fired for his publications.
Sources: E1.ru
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Ilya Inishev
Date of incident: December 27, 2022
Type of violation: Dismissal
Institution: Higher School of Economics (HSE), Moscow

Summary: On December 27, 2022, the Higher School of Economics (HSE) in Moscow fired Ilya Inishev, who has been a professor at the Higher School of Economics since 2010, where he headed the master's program in Cultural Studies.
Sources: Insider SibReal Doxa Code of Conduct for HSE University Staff
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DISCUSSIONS

«At first I thought it was a fake» — scientists on religious fundamentalism of the Institute of General Genetics director

A.M. Kudryavtsev, corresponding member of the RAS, director of the Vavilov Institute of General Genetics of the RAS, made a blatantly fundamentalist presentation at a theological conference. He claimed that mutations are caused by sins, that human lifespans are shortening because biblical characters lived for hundreds of years, and that Russia is forced to war because people in neighboring countries have multiplied too much. «At first I thought it was a fake,» write without collusion in response to the obscurantism Acad. Alexei Khokhlov and bioinformatician Alexander Panchin. There is also a response from the head of the RAS Commission against Pseudoscience, Acad. Eugene Alexandrov.

29.03.2023
Victor Vakhshtayn continues the dialogue with Mikhail Sokolov

Responding to Mikhail Sokolov’s points, Viktor Vakhshtayn continues his discussion of the obstacles that arise in transferring the results of sociological research obtained in one society to another.

28.03.2023
Sociologist Mikhail Sokolov responds to an interview with Victor Vakhshtayn

Mikhail Sokolov has posted detailed remarks following an interview with Victor Vakhshtayn published by T-invariant. Spoiler alert: «Russian social scientists … do not need to abandon Russian material in the past by erasing it along with the part of their lives dedicated to collecting it. If you understand how the mental maps of the social sciences are arranged, … you can, hopefully, avoid such sacrifices.»

25.03.2023
Countries importing Russian fake dissertations

Prof. Andrei Rostovtsev listed the countries whose citizens, according to Dissernet, actively use the opportunity to receive academic degrees in Russia for falsified dissertations. China is in first place, followed by most Third World countries, and there are even some European countries on the list. And for instance, Tajikistan successfully sells Russian-language forgeries to Iranians.

07.03.2023
Ukrainian scientists call for boycott of Russian science

The Nature web-site reports about an open letter of Ukrainian scientists with an appeal to the world scientific community to boycott Russian science. The Russian scientific diaspora is discussing the topic in the RASA group.

03.03.2023
Where is artificial intelligence taking us?

How should we perceive the new generation of AI systems, what to expect of them, and how will they change us? Scott Aaronson, an AI security specialist, talked about this in an interview to Sergei Nemalevich, a science journalist of Radio Liberty. It’s a good starting point for those who have not yet realized how serious things are.

27.02.2023
Masks: proven ineffectiveness or unproven effectiveness?

According to the new Cochrane meta-analysis, the effectiveness of masks against the spread of respiratory infections has not yet been proven. However, they assess the reliability of this conclusion is low because the available research is inconclusive. Science journalist Ira Yakutenko explained in detail why this is the case. We can argue there until the proper research arrives.

27.02.2023
The RAS is winding down the fight against pseudoscience

Machine translation

The other day it turned out, according to the Club of Academicians “July 1”, that in December 2022 the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences decided «to transfer the functions of the RAS Commission on Combating Pseudoscience and the RAS Commission on Counteraction to Falsification of Scientific Research to the Expert Council of the RAS». The leaders of the commissions were not even informed about this. In 2018, the RAS Commission on Combating Pseudoscience was split into two, severely limiting the right to public statements (only with the approval of the Presidium of the RAS). Now it is going to the point where the problems of pseudoscience and falsification will no longer be considered independently. Academics hope to challenge this decision at the General Assembly of the RAS in May.

25.02.2023

© 2023 Т-инвариант / T-invariant