At the end of May 2025, when a rapid rise occurred in the academic career of the former head of the Ukrainian government, the media reported that the high rank was awarded a policy that had not published a single scientific article or monograph over his life. We checked the correctness of this information.
On May 30, Russian-speaking media drew attention to the fact that the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) elected its new academician Nikolai Azarov, the former Prime Minister of Ukraine, who left the country after the Euromaidan. In some news notes, it was emphasized that Azarov did not have a single scientific publication and that for the first time in the history of the Russian Academy of Sciences, a man with zero became an academician Hirsch index - a scientific by a scientific characteristic showing the productivity and citation of scientists. On this basis, many media assessed the election as a purely political one.
It wrote about it The Moscow Timesas well as large Ukrainian media, among which UNIAN, "Focus" New Voice And "Channel 24". Post Telegram channel "Insider UA»On this subject, at the time of writing, I gained 508,000 views.
May 28-30 in Moscow passed General meeting members of the Russian Academy of Sciences on which were elected 84 Academician (out of 86 declared) and 165 corresponding members RAS. Only linguists Elena Berezovich and Fedor Uspensky were not approved in the new rank, in 2022 signed A letter against the Russian invasion of Ukraine. From the department of the Earth sciences, an academician with a degree in Mountain Sciences was Nikolai Azarov, who in 2010-2014 headed the Ukrainian government. After the revolution of dignity, he moved to Russia and fell under international sanctions. When Azarov became a defendant in a number of criminal cases in Ukraine, Interpol put him on the international wanted list, but in 2017 of his and other former officials Removed From the list of this organization.
On April 2, some publications (in particular, The Insider And "New newspaper Europe") Reported that Azarov, who does not have a single scientific publication, claims the title of Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences in the separation of science of land. As at the end of May, many media referred to T-Invariant data-media, which was created by scientists and scientific journalists who left Russia due to censorship and other restrictions.
In both cases, T-Invariant really issued publications on this subject in his Telegram channel: first I paid attention for the possible election of Azarov as an academician, and later reported On the results of voting at a meeting of members of the Russian Academy of Sciences. However, in the posts of the publication it was not said that the politician had no scientific publications. T-Invariant wrote that in the event of the election of the Azars, he will become the first academician with the zero Hirsch index through the nucleus of the Rins. The Hirsch index itself is a universal metric of productivity and the demand for scientists, based on the number of published work and their quotations by other scientists. The nucleus of the Rins - existing Since 2015, the list of publications included in the Russian scientific citation index and at the same time corresponding to increased criteria for scientific significance. Accordingly, the Hirsch index by the Rinz nucleus is explained to Elibary.ru, shows links to the author’s publications from this Subindex in other publications that are included. How Writes Academician of the Russian Academy A
When an expanded list of candidates for the title of academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences was approved, on the website of the scientific electronic library Elibary.ru Published Their scientific characteristics. As T-Invariant correctly noted, the Hirsch index in the nucleus of the Rins with Azarov is zero. And this is the only such example among 353 candidates in 2025.
However, even from this list it is clear that Azarova is almost 150 times The authors of other publications that are part of the Rins' core quoted (some of them, however, are devoted not to geology, but to politics). Also, the former Ukrainian prime minister has Six worksincluded in this Subindex. All of them are dedicated to mining, although they were written in co-authorship and for the most part published in the late 1970s and early 1980s. In total, in the database Elibary.ru is listed 80 works Azarov, and about fifty of them can be called specialized scientific publications or patents.
According to biographies On the website of Moscow State University, Azarov graduated from the Geological Department of Moscow State University in 1971, and in 1985 he defended his doctor dissertation On the topic "Miner seismic exploration of coal layers." If you believe the candidate for academicians, to the number of his main achievements Relate Studies in the development of theoretical and methodological foundations of the use of mine geophysics in the difficult mining and geological conditions of coal basins. It is also noted that he was the supervisor of five candidates and two doctors of science. Judging by the chronology of publications, Azarov moved away from science at the turn of the 2000s and 2010s, when he already actively participated in Ukrainian politics and held key posts in the government. And only in 2024, on the eve of his nomination to the academicians of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in the journal “Works Proceedings” appeared his new one, written along with co -authors article On the geology of one mine in the Donbass.
Thus, there is no reason to say that at the time of the election by the academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Azarov did not publish any scientific work. This is an erroneous interpretation of the correct approval of the edition of T-Invariant about the zero index of Hirsch Politics by the Rins's Nucleus. Moreover, back in April, when the excitement rose for the first time, in the wounds They saidthat this index is an optional indicator for election to academics. Note that some publications corrected their publications, which initially contained a mistake, for example, The Moscow Times clarifiedthat Azarov did not publish a single "authoritative" work.
Whether Azarov’s scientific achievements are sufficient to obtain a high rank is a different question. One of the Academicians of the Russian Academy of Sciences, on the terms of anonymity, told “verified” that the nomination of the former Ukrainian Prime Minister enjoyed the support of his colleagues in their specialty, one of whom, the academician himself, called him his teacher. At the same time, our interlocutor is sure: "There is no doubt here that this is a purely political event."
Photo on the cover: Wikimedia Commons
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