On this page, incrEAST provides an overview of the research and technology potential of Azerbaijan.
In Azerbaijan, as in most post-communist countries, we have witnessed the wholesale disintegration of the research and development system and the gradual destruction and erosion of its elements. Only some of the elements of the research and development system remain functional: individual research and development organisations, project teams and even individual researchers.
The decline of science in the former republics of the USSR started a decline in investments in science, which has taken place in all post-socialist European countries. The consequences of declining investments are multiple. First of all, Azerbaijan has witnessed the general narrowing of national research and development systems. Since the decline most drastically affects applied and experimental research, science has withdrawn from production processes and has closed itself into specialised scientific institutions. The equipment is obsolete and is not being modernised; research work is becoming increasingly difficult because of the inadequate material conditions. Scientists and scholars are discouraged by the explicit marginalisation of their work and knowledge. The number of scientists, scholars and researchers is on the decline.
The brain waste (scientists leaving research for other occupations) has reached unprecedented proportions. The organisational model of research and development work is not changing.
Instead of science providing the rational basis for the overall social restructuring and democratisation of society, Azerbaijan has witnessed exactly the opposite trend: political power relies on the imports of "recipes" and other kinds of "knowledge" about social restructuring, thus to a large extent abusing science. The complex field of RTD is fragmented. Institutional and functional links between the universities and professional RTD organisations have been cut. A very small number of companies are carrying out in-house research as their resource for normal functioning and future development. However, their impact on the domestic (state-run) RTD complex is extremely marginal. Economic activities greatly rely on importing knowledge and technology (a restrictive and externally strictly controlled operation), mostly under very unfavourable or unregulated conditions.
The overall creative potential is marginalised and exposed to pressures by distinctly conservative proponents advocating explicit state regulation of all scientific and research activities.
| Number of organisations that carried out RTD: 145 |
| Employees engaged in R&D (full-time employees): 17 973 including Researchers: 11 698 of which Doctors of sciences: 708 Candidates of sciences (PhD): 3 258 |
| Number of research and educational employees of higher educational institutions: 11 591 (which are not on the staff of scientific research sub-sector , but are carrying out R&D) of which Doctors of sciences: 988 Candidates of sciences (PhD): 5 386 |
| Number of corresponding members of ANAS: 100 |
| Number of organisations with post-graduate courses: 96 |
| Number of post-graduate students, persons: 1 705 |
| Number of academics (full members of ANAS): 57 |
| Admission to post-graduate study, persons: 550 |
| Graduation of post-graduate study, persons: 340 |
| Number of organisations with courses of D.Sc. degree: 19 |
| Number of persons working for D.Sc. degree, person: 22 |
| Admission to courses of D.Sc. degree, persons: 17 |
| Graduates of courses of D.Sc. degree, persons: 11 |
| Domestic expenditures on RTD million manats: 32.2 in million USD: 37.9 |
| Allocated funds from state budget for science million manats: 32.0 in million USD: 37.6 in percent of GDP: 0.2 in percent of expenditures from the state budget: 0.8 |
Source: Education, Science and Culture in Azerbaijan 2007, State Statistical Committee of Azerbaijan Republic (SSCAR) 2007, p. 236-238, Stand: 2006
In accordance with the official data of the State Statistical Committee of Azerbaijan Republic1 the percentage share of the country's GDP allocated to RTD for the period 2000-2006 was the same and equal to 0.2 percent .
In the budget of 2008 the expenses on the science are foreseen at the rate 64.6 million manat (about 76 million US dollars) or 0.76 % of the part of the budget supply.2 In 2001 in Azerbaijan the expenses on the science from the budget (18 million manat) made 1.16 % of the part of the budget supply.
From 1995, there was a dynamic increase of the expenses spent on the science from the state budget. However, these expenses taken for the development of the science were not satisfying. In 2006 the sharing of the domestic expenditures on research and development was as follows: 79.9% on budget resources, 10.9% on the customer’s resources, 7.5% on the own resources of the organisations doing research, 1.9% on the out-of-budget fund’s 3.
Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences (ANAS)
There is no ministry of science in Azerbaijan. The ANAS plays a primary role in the scientific life of the republic. In accordance with the President’s decree dated 04.01.03, the Academy, being the highest scientific centre of the Republic of Azerbaijan, organises and carries out basic and applied research on scientific problems and coordinates basic research conducted in scientific organisations and higher educational institutions. The presidential order clearly notes that the Academy is accorded special status in the areas of science policy development and implementation as well as science management in Azerbaijan and in its relations with the state the Academy is to have direct contact with the republic’s Prime Minister.
There are 53 organisations functioning within the framework of the ANAS, including 34 research institutions and 3 regional research centres. The breakdown of research institutions of the ANAS main body which is located in Baku into fields of activity is as follows: physical and mathematical sciences 6 institutes, chemical sciences 4 institutes, earth sciences 2 institutes, biological sciences 6 institutes, humanitarian and social sciences 11 institutes.
The ANAS has been the leader of S&T research in Azerbaijan for decades. However, many of its laboratories are no longer in good condition. Many scientists are struggling unsuccessfully to adjust to market economy conditions. With the presently available resources, many institutes of the ANAS are having increasing difficulty in sustaining their multiple laboratories, which sometimes engage in overlapping research activities.
The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 significantly reduced the economic base that supports the ANAS and scientific research in Azerbaijan in general and also reduced the demand for products of research. Some ANAS institutes and centres still have strong capabilities and could make important scientific contributions. Others are of marginal viability -both scientifically and financially.
These developments have led to an increase in the average age of the scientists that belong to the ANAS, with relatively few between 30 and 50 years of age. The lack of scientists in their most productive years reduces the research capacity of the ANAS and limits its ability to attract and train new scientists.
At present, the ANAS is considered as the main performer of basic research. At the same time, there are some ANAS institutes, mainly of chemical and biological profiles, which could play also important role in the economic development of Azerbaijan (e.g. as performers of applied research and experimental development). The ANAS` recognition abroad also enhances Azerbaijan's international image. Furthermore, the ANAS' role is also very important in drawing out and offering scientifically substantiated recipes and expert evaluations of various programmes and projects.
In 2006, the Academy system had a total staff of around 9,500 employees, including a scientific staff of around 6,230 researchers (57 academics and 100 corresponding members, 479 doctors of science, 1,968 candidates of science).
The ANAS should make constructive suggestions regarding the management and funding of S&T and recommend specific research priorities. However, the ability of the ANAS to achieve meaningful objectives in these areas is inhibited by both limited resources and fragmentation of efforts.
Many areas of science currently funded through the institutes of the ANAS are unlikely to yield significant returns in terms of economic development. Redirecting resources to a few targeted areas should be undertaken.
The hard legacy of the 1990s is being gradually overcome. Azeri scientists and researchers have to work in rather harsh environments. Due to shortages of funding, their equipment is often obsolete for carrying out modern experiments and their remuneration is absolutely incommensurate with that of their western counterpart.
The ANAS should be the official scientific adviser of the Government, and its proposals are required to be discussed by government agencies and state administrative units. It should also take great care to attract young researchers and scientists who are the nation`s future. It also should step up the development of high-tech branches by pursuing the state`s innovative development strategies which relies on fundamental research.
The ANAS and the Ministry of Economical Development should be in charge of novel entities such as technoparks.
Core financing for the activities of the Academy is included as a separate line item in the state budget.
At the present stage, while in the process of negotiating the difficult path of preserving science, the ANAS in turn is implementing new approaches for the structural improvement of its own system, including the following:
The Programme on the Perfection of Activity, Structure, and Funding of the ANAS was developed and approved by the Presidium of ANAS in early 2007.
However, apart from the ANAS, there are also other relevant research performers of the Azeri RTD system as illustrated in Figure 1.
Branch Institutes
Government-funded research is also performed under the auspices of government ministries, universities and other institutions. Research performed by the ministries and non-ANAS institutes is often of an applied nature tailored to meet specific needs in Azerbaijan. As such, this research may have limited transferability beyond the borders of Azerbaijan, but it could be quite valuable where circumstances and technology needs are similar to those in Azerbaijan.
These latter non-Academy institutes were previously established with the aim of developing various industrial and agricultural sectors and introducing new, more efficient technologies into them. However, in contrast to Academy research organisations which focus mainly on basic research, the results obtained in the non-Academy institutes must find direct application in a particular branch of industry. Therefore, it is natural that these applied institutes are partly financed by the corresponding production associations (which includes these expenses in the production costs of their products). Both local and foreign sponsors can also contribute to the financing of science if such activity is encouraged by the state.
Leading Institutions of Higher Education
Azerbaijan has several important public institutions of higher education, including Baku State University, Azerbaijan State Oil Academy, Azerbaijan Technical University,
State Management Academy, Azerbaijan University Architecture and Construction, Azerbaijan State University of Economy and Azerbaijan Medical University. These educational centres set the standard for the level of education in Azerbaijan and provide leadership in curriculum development and research.
The research sector in Institutions of Higher Education in Azerbaijan is rather weak. Cuts in state funding for fellowships at the master’s and doctoral levels and the long-standing lack of attention to state support for basic, cutting-edge and promising fields of science in the sphere of postgraduate specialised education do not promote the building of links between science and education. Training solely within the framework of local scientific schools does not ensure the appropriate level of preparation for scientific personnel and in some cases leads to the stagnation of the scientific field itself.
Tendencies toward obsolescence are being observed in the system for training scientific personnel, along with a certain degree of randomness in the selection of scientific fields and a lack of correlation between current demands and top-priority areas.
The total foreign investment spent on the scientific-technical sphere in Azerbaijan is extremely low (less than 0.01% of the total RTD expenditure). “British Petroleum”, “Exxon Corporation”, “Statoil”, “Chevron” and other big oil companies are presently working in Azerbaijan, but their financial support for Azeri scientific research is almost negligible.
The greater part of the funds for RTD from the state budget is actually spent on staff salaries, which, nevertheless, remain inadequate and insufficiently stimulating. It is noteworthy that all the financial control mechanisms are applied by the Government. It is the Ministry of Finance that allocates funds for material expenditure, research projects, junior researcher employment and the approval of vacancies for new appointments.
In comparison with expenditure in other countries, Azerbaijan provides less funding for basic research. Instead, Azerbaijan focuses on providing financial support for applied research, with expenditure amounting to twice as much as for basic research. In 2006, of the current domestic expenditure on RTD, 30.0 % was spent on basic research, 57.1 % on applied research and 12.9 % on development. As the statistics for 2006 show, 41 % of the current domestic expenditure for RTD was spent on technical sciences, 24 % on natural sciences, 11 % on humanities, 7 % on agricultural sciences, 10 % on social sciences and 7 % on medicine.
Although RTD expenditure continuously grew in Azerbaijan in the period 1995-2006, the actual RTD funding rate is still insufficient for creating the conditions required for effective utilisation of the RTD potential. Thus, there has been significant ageing of research equipment and devices, an outflow of researchers from science, RTD reduction both in input and output indicators, etc.
In Azerbaijan, research institutions are providing the finance rather than research projects conducted on a competitive basis. Funding for RTD is distributive in nature.
The fact that RTD in Azerbaijan is poorly funded, undervalued and underpaid has several negative consequences:
The inappropriate treatment of RTD institutions and universities in Azerbaijan acts as an obstacle to more intensive research activity. The country has no medium-term or long-term vision of development, nor of RTD, while the short-term policy of RTD is inconsistent, rendering any meaningful planning impossible.
Source: ANAS
Last up-date: 16.04.2008
