Professional development of candidates of sciences who have defended dissertations in the priority areas of the Strategy for the Scientific and Technological Development of the Russian Federation

Abstract

   Aim. The presented study aims to develop a scientifically based method of obtaining quantitative indicators for the staffing of priority areas through the training of highly qualified scientific personnel.   Tasks. The authors create a methodology for comparing the topics of dissertation research (scientific specialties and dissertation topics) with the priority areas formulated in the Strategy for the Scientific and Technological Development of the Russian Federation (STD RF); conduct a survey of candidates of sciences to learn their assessment of the compliance ofdissertation research topics with the priority areas of the STD RF strategy and to identify the peculiarities of the professional development of candidates of sciences after the defense of their dissertations; analyze the staffing of the priority areas of the STD RF strategy through the training of highly qualified personnel (HQP) based on the results of the survey and the developed methodology for matching the topic of the dissertation with the topics of the priority areas of the STD RF strategy and the retention of the trained HQP in the scientific and technological field corresponding to such priority areas; identify Competence Centers for the training of HQP for the staffing of the priority directions of the STD RF strategy.   Methods. A methodology of step-by-step matching of dissertation research and priority areas according to the criteria of "scientific specialty" and "dissertation title" is developed using three approaches: expert, keyword-based, and embedding-based. A sociological survey of 8,402 candidates of sciences was conducted to obtain quantitative indicators.   Results. It is found that only one out of three candidates of sciences who defended a dissertation in one of the priority areas continues to engage in scientific activity on the subject of his dissertation after the defense. Over half of the candidates of sciences (around 60 %) whose dissertation topic corresponds to the priorities of the STD RF strategy occasionally engage in scientific activities on the subject of their dissertation research. Around 12 % of candidates of sciences stopped developing their research topics after defending their dissertations.   Conclusions. The potential of HQP trained in the subject of priority areas is not fully realized. The number of HQP that remain focused on the topics of the priority areas of the STD RF strategy can serve as a benchmark for the formation of indicators of staffing efficiency in the priority areas of scientific and technological development.