This study examined the impact of Russia's "Megagrant" program on scientific publications at Russian universities. The program aimed to strengthen science in Russia by providing $2 million grants to attract Russian expatriate scientists and international researchers. The researcher analyzed publication data from universities that had Megagrant winners or finalists from the 2011 competition. Results showed universities with winners significantly increased publications after the grant compared to finalists, suggesting the program successfully increased scientific output.

1. Introduc)on
This
study
focused
on
the
impact
the
Russian
government’s
“Megagrant”
program
has
had
on
the
recent
efforts
to
revitalize
science
in
Russian
universi=es.
This
program
was
created
to
strengthen
governmental
support
for
developments
in
science
and
to
encourage
Russian
expat
scien=sts
to
return
and
con=nue
research
in
Russia
through
these
monetary
“megagrants”
worth
approx
$2Million.
Applica=ons
are
also
open
to
other
foreigners
as
well.
Applicants
can
only
par=cipate
in
one
research
project
and
these
scien=sts
need
to
have
a
partnership
with
one
Russian
ins=tu=on
of
higher
learning.
The
program
began
in
2010
with
its
first
grant
compe==on
which
aIracted
507
par=cipants
and
had
38
winners,
the
second
compe==on
in
April
2011
aIracted
517
par=cipants
with
38
winners,
and
the
third
in
2013
aIracted
720
par=cipants
with
42
winners.
Winners
are
required
to
spend
4
months
a
year
at
Russian
universi=es
to
carry
out
research.
This
study
focused
on
the
2011
compe==on.
Role
of
the
Research
Assistant
My
role
in
this
project
was
to
research
the
background
and
understand
the
“megagrant”
program
and
the
process
and
applica=on
requirements
it
entailed.
I
researched
the
number
of
applicants
who
entered
the
compe==on
from
2010
to
2013.
I
found
the
universi=es
that
corresponded
to
the
winners.
I
learned
how
to
download
publica=on
data
through
Scopus
and
impor=ng
this
data
into
STATA
in
order
to
make
a
graph.
I
also
research
similar
programs
in
other
countries.
Research
Ques)on
Was
there
an
increase
in
publica=ons
aUer
winners
from
the
2011
“megagrant”
started
conduc=ng
research
in
their
corresponding
Russian
universi=es
as
compared
to
before
their
arrival,
and
compared
to
the
universi=es
who
did
not
win
the
grant.
Data
and
Methods
The
first
step
was
to
create
a
list
of
universi=es
that
had
“megagrant”
winners
and
finalists.
The
next
step
was
to
go
through
these
universi=es
on
the
Scopus
database
to
download
the
publica=on
data
of
the
total
ar=cles
published
by
each
university.
This
publica=on
data
was
then
exported
to
STATA
to
create
graphs
and
es=mate
the
impact
about
whether
publica=ons
had
increased
aUer
universi=es
had
“megagrant”
winners.
This
approach
is
called
a
“difference-­‐indifference”
analysis.
Results
Discussion
The
concept
of
brain
drain
is
the
process
where
countries
lose
their
most
educated
and
talented
researchers
through
migra=on
to
other
countries
with
beIer
research
benefits.
This
is
a
problem
because
when
these
individuals
leave,
they
take
their
knowledge
and
exper=se
and
contribute
to
knowledge
gain
for
other
countries.
Government
programs
around
the
world
have
been
enacted
to
help
reduce
the
migra=on
of
scien=sts
out
of
their
country
of
origin
and
bring
more
incen=ves
for
migrants
to
return
to
their
home
countries
to
do
research
Conclusion
Based
on
the
graph
from
our
data,
it
can
be
seen
that
there
was
a
significant
increase
in
publica=ons
published
by
universi=es
with
grant
winners
when
compared
with
finalists.
There
are
s=ll
many
other
factors
that
could
have
been
studied
such
as
the
impact
of
the
grant
on
other
outcomes
such
as
the
grant
winners
themselves
or
on
the
scien=sts
within
each
university.
It
would
also
be
interes=ng
to
see
whether
funding
should
be
given
to
older
researchers
compared
to
younger
ones
and
what
effect
this
has
on
publishing
and
comparing
the
“megagrant”
programs
to
similar
programs
in
other
countries.
References
Russian
“Megagrant”
website
h2p://www.p220.ru/en/
China
1000
Talents
Program
h2p://www.1000plan.org/en/
Agencia
(NaDonal
Agency
For
Science
and
Technology)
ArgenDna
h2p://www.agencia.mincyt.gob.ar/frontend/agencia/post/407
Brazil
Science
Without
Borders
h2p://www.cienciasemfronteiras.gov.br/web/csf-­‐eng/
Guzeva,
Alexanda.
“New
Grants
Revitalize
Russian
Science.”
N.p.,
n.s
Picture
source
:
h2p://www.nature.com/news/puDn-­‐s-­‐russia-­‐
divides-­‐and-­‐enrages-­‐scienDsts-­‐1.16571
0
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1000
AveragePublications
2000
2001
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2015
Year
Runner Up Winner
Source
:
Nature,
2014