One Emigre’s Optimistic View
Alexandre Telnov knows plenty of Russian scientists working in the United States.
In fact, it took just a few minutes for this ardent young man with straight, pale blond hair and lots to say to find two Russian colleagues at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center. He pulled them aside to chat about the state of Russian science.
All three are from Akademgorodok, a southwestern Siberian city packed with research institutes and high-level scientists. Telnov left his hometown six years ago to study high energy physics at UC Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, nearly 6,000 miles away.
When he first left, people would ask, "How can you go study in California where it is sunny all of the time?" Telnov remembered.
But Telnov, who goes by the nickname Sasha, came for more than just the weather. He decided studying in the United States would allow him to do more serious research more quickly.
And it shows. Although his round cheeks make him look younger, Telnov seems older than his 26 years, and he has the responsibilities of someone older. He said he's already had the opportunity to take on responsibility in the massive Babar project, a Stanford Linear Accelerator Center project looking at subatomic particles. That's something that wouldn't be possible in Russia, both because there aren't big international projects there and because Russian education focuses on theory rather than practice.
Telnov has a whole host of issues with both Russian and Western science, and he ticked them off the hand-written list he pulled from his pocket.
Respect for both Russian science and the prestigious Academy of Sciences has fallen. Few businesses are jumping up to sponsor research. Russia is unlikely to host a major international research project anytime soon, because a host country usually pays at least half the costs. Taken together, these problems have driven scientists out of Russia.
"I don't think these people are lost forever to Russia as scientists," Telnov said.
He said science in Russia can recover because its students have a strong base in science-- stronger than what he hears about the U.S. system -- and a more open peer-review process.
"I tend to be optimistic about the future of Russia," he said. "Even though we have a not-so-good government that is mismanaging the country, I think eventually Russia will begin a normal development."
And Telnov still hasn't decided whether or not he will return to Russia.
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