Scientific Councils at the International Association of Academies of Sciences: a Form for Self-Organization of Scientific Disciplines

Abstract

The authority of an international scientific organization results from the following premises: (i) numbers and composition of the founders of an international organization; (ii) the efficiency of its institutional structure (presence of a strong central administrative body and numerous scientific and organizational units strictly implementing its decisions; stable sources for their financing; clearly defined mission, strategy and tactics of an international scientific organization); (iii) regular and systemic actions of the executive scientific and organizational units, and their inner motivation for these actions.

In focus of the article are scientific and organizational units as a key component of the institutional system of the International Association of Academies of Sciences (IAAS), operating at MAAS on permanent basis, with the prevailing number of scientific councils. The statutory documents regulating their actions are highlighted. It is emphasized that the distinctions between the committees initially created at IAAS in compliance with the division-based structure of the Academies of Sciences with IAAS membership and regulated by the statutory document, on the one hand, and the network of non-regulated scientific, coordinating, consultative and other councils created at IAAS on narrow disciplinary basis, on the other hand, arise from the peculiarities of the Academy form for research organization, combining, in a harmonic manner, the norms of formal organization of Academy research and the principles of self-organization and self-administration, by use of researchers’ personal means and inner motivation to performing this research.

However, the complementarity of relations between the norms of formal organization of Academy research and its self-organization and self-administration principles, and their harmonization cannot be achieved unless the distinctions of these two approaches to organization of Academy research are realized. This raises the importance of experiences in creating various kinds of scientific and organizational units, accumulated by Academies of Sciences with IAAS membership in various periods, and respective practices of international scientific organizations, which comprehensive review is given in the article. Information about the origin of scientific councils at the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) of Ukraine, the NAS of Belarus, the Russian Academy of Sciences, branch and subject commissions operating at the International Committee of Slavists, branch councils at the Executive Committee of the Commonwealth of Independent States, commissions and committees on terminology on the soviet and post-soviet area is provided. Recommendations to improve the work of IAAS scientific councils are proposed.