Science Back on the Agenda
Science Back on the Agenda
As the Turkmen government vows to revive the long-neglected sphere of science, NBCentralAsia observers say the process of recuperation will take a long time unless foreign experts are brought in and the government guarantees regular expenditure for the sector.
On June 13, President Gurbanguly Berdymuhammedov, who has a doctorate in medicine, signed two decrees designed to help the sciences. First, the country’s Academy of Sciences, closed in 1993 by former president Saparmurat Niazov, will be reopened.
Under the second decree, postgraduate and doctoral studies will be introduced in Turkmen universities, a committee will be set up to certify higher qualifications, and a Science and Technology Foundation will be set up under the presidential office to issue permits for importing technologies from abroad.
Niazov, who died in December, had little regard for the sciences and believed they should be used for purely practical purposes. He closed a number of research institutions under the pretext that they “failed to produce practical results”, and those that remained were subordinated to the relevant ministries and government agencies.
A local researcher, who formerly worked for the Academy of Sciences, says that “all the systems for conducting scientific research were destroyed” under Niazov, and as a result there has been virtually no scientific research in the past 15 years.
“Underfunding led to stagnation in science, and a dramatic exodus of [scientific] staff, 80 per cent of whom have been forced to leave the country,” he said.
Another commentator based in Ashgabat says the lack of funding and the imposition of state ideology on science meant that promising research was cut short, and scientific gains were lost.
For instance, research into the growth of coloured cotton, alternative energy sources and the development of space fuel was curtailed.
Instead, the government encouraged ideologically-driven scientific “discoveries”, such as that human civilisation originated in Turkmenistan, and that the first domesticated wheat was grown there.
In view of this history of neglect, it makes sense for Berdymuhammedov to try to revitalise scientific research. But commentators say he will need to bring in fresh blood from abroad, including foreign scientists as well as those who left the country.
The few scientists who stayed behind in Turkmenistan are now waiting with bated breath for the Academy of Sciences and research institutions to reopen, but one Ashgabat-based researcher says they are also at a loss about how this can happen, since they are aware that they will have to start almost from scratch.
He added that the government will have to ensure that budget funds are earmarked for training staff, refurbishing the infrastructure of science and constructing new buildings.
(News Briefing Central Asia draws comment and analysis from a broad range of political observers across the region.)
On June 13, President Gurbanguly Berdymuhammedov, who has a doctorate in medicine, signed two decrees designed to help the sciences. First, the country’s Academy of Sciences, closed in 1993 by former president Saparmurat Niazov, will be reopened.
Under the second decree, postgraduate and doctoral studies will be introduced in Turkmen universities, a committee will be set up to certify higher qualifications, and a Science and Technology Foundation will be set up under the presidential office to issue permits for importing technologies from abroad.
Niazov, who died in December, had little regard for the sciences and believed they should be used for purely practical purposes. He closed a number of research institutions under the pretext that they “failed to produce practical results”, and those that remained were subordinated to the relevant ministries and government agencies.
A local researcher, who formerly worked for the Academy of Sciences, says that “all the systems for conducting scientific research were destroyed” under Niazov, and as a result there has been virtually no scientific research in the past 15 years.
“Underfunding led to stagnation in science, and a dramatic exodus of [scientific] staff, 80 per cent of whom have been forced to leave the country,” he said.
Another commentator based in Ashgabat says the lack of funding and the imposition of state ideology on science meant that promising research was cut short, and scientific gains were lost.
For instance, research into the growth of coloured cotton, alternative energy sources and the development of space fuel was curtailed.
Instead, the government encouraged ideologically-driven scientific “discoveries”, such as that human civilisation originated in Turkmenistan, and that the first domesticated wheat was grown there.
In view of this history of neglect, it makes sense for Berdymuhammedov to try to revitalise scientific research. But commentators say he will need to bring in fresh blood from abroad, including foreign scientists as well as those who left the country.
The few scientists who stayed behind in Turkmenistan are now waiting with bated breath for the Academy of Sciences and research institutions to reopen, but one Ashgabat-based researcher says they are also at a loss about how this can happen, since they are aware that they will have to start almost from scratch.
He added that the government will have to ensure that budget funds are earmarked for training staff, refurbishing the infrastructure of science and constructing new buildings.
(News Briefing Central Asia draws comment and analysis from a broad range of political observers across the region.)
