Richard E. Bozakl University of lllinois
I
Chemistry
T h e chemistry faculty2 of MOSCOW State University is housed in a modern, six-story building directly behind the well-known main university building on Lenin Hills. It is the largest and most important university chemistry faculty in the Soviet Union, producing approximately one-half of the chemical publications originating in Soviet univer~ities.~ We can learn about the function and aims of the faculty from the Faculty Bulletin or catalogue:' The chemistry faculty prepares speeialised chemists in five fields-inorganio, analytical, organic, and physical chemistry and radiochemistry. Teaching and research in the chemistry faculty are directed by the decisions of the May, 1958, meeting of the Plenum of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. [This meetine dealt with1 the sooderation of the development of ihe chemicalTndustry snd with the target figures for thenational economy set by the Twenty-first Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Taken as working principles are the decisions of the Twenty-first Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviety Union which noted, "In the field of the ohemical sciences, the paramount tasks are the general expansion of theoretical research, talented cultivation of new improvements in technological processes, and the creation of new synthetic materials with properties t o meet the demands of contem~orarvindustrv."
'Present address: 1810 Shuey Avenue, Walnut Creek, California. Prior to a postdoctoral year a t Illinois, the author spent nine months doing pastdoctoral research in the chemistry faculty of Moscow State University (USSR), under the auspices of the 1958 Cultural Exchange Agreement between the governments of tbe USA and USSR. The student exchange program was supervised by the Inter-University Committee on Travel Grants (Indiana University). The author's research was done in the kafedra of organic chemistry under the direction of Professor A. P. Terentyev. % Arough transliteration is used for some Russian academic terms. Famllp is the equivalent to our department. A kafedra is r. division in the department. 3 The Academy of Sciences exercises rule aver scientific r e search in the Soviet Union, and its institutes do the most impodant and extensive research. Five-sixths of all chemical papers appearing in Soviet journals are from thevariousinstitutes directly or indirectly related to the Academy; the nuiversities together produce the remaining one-sixth. q. I. Ivanove. (editor), Sprawochnik dlya postupayushchikh u MGU v 1360 godu. (Reference Book For Persons Entering Moscow State University in 1960) (Moscow, 1960).
376
/
Journal o f Chemical Education
personnel, above all in the field of high molecular weight compounds. The general study-plan of the faculty is intended to produce practical chemists with a broad background in physics and mathematics. At the present time [19601, the chemistry faculty has in its complement fourteen departments (kafedras): physical chemistry, colloid chemistry, high molecular weight compounds, electrochemistry, chemical kinetics, the physics and chemistry of high pressure, organic chemistry, organic catalysis, the ehemistry of petroleum, inorganic chemistry, general chemistry, radiachemistry, analytical chemistry, and chemical technology. In t,he field of inorganic and general chemistry, scientific and academic work is conducted in the following specialties: the chemistry of rare elements, the chemistry of complexes and their application to industry, the chemistry of metals and alloys, the study of the equilibria of salts, and the study of refining processes for the production of new inorganic materials. In organic chemistry, the faculty is producing specialists in the following fields: organic synthesis, investigation of the structure of organic natural and synthetic products and their application in different fields, the chemistry of metallo-organic compounds, the chemistry of proteins, the theory of organic catalysis and it8 use in industry, and organic microanalysis. Research on the composition and structure of hydrocarbons derived from petroleum, synthesis in the oil industry, and the use of catalysis in the petroleum industry-all three problems are settled by the department of the chemistry of petroleum. The department of physical chemistry, which has a great number of laboratories, prepares specialists for almost all areas in the chemical industry of the USSR. I t is concerned with the study of the velocity of chemical reactions, inorganic catalysis, speotroscopy, methods of the separation of isotopes, thermodynamics, absorption, and other topics. The mighty growth of the energy base of the Soviet Union all the more enlarges the field of electricity, and the preparation of personnel. . is done by the department of electrochemistry. The rapid development of polymers and their broad use in all fields of the national economy gives real meaning to the work of the department of high molecular weight compounds. The chemistry faculty has day and night departments. The student plan of the day division takes 5.4 years, and the night class takes five years and ten months. The study plan of the chemistry faculty provides all students with study in the following basic disciplines: inorganic chemistry, organic chemistry, analytical chemistry, physical chemistry, chemical technology, the structure of substances, colloid chemistry, polymer chemistry, the history of chemistry, higher mathematics, general physics, theoretical physics, crystallography, political economics, dialeoticd and historical materialism, the history of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, a foreign language, and a few others. All study plans include a considerable number of hours of laboratory work, in which students learn
.
the basic metlmds and experin~entdtechniques of chemical research. In the higher courses, the students work in the laboratories of the specialty of their choice. After 3.6 years, some practical training is given oancerning industrial practices in the chemical industry, after whioh period the students return to the studies of their own specialties and the fulfillment of their diploma work. After finishing the faculty, they are sent to work in chemical laboratories in faotories and researoh establishments. The active participation of all members of the large staff of the chemistry faculty insures top quality training of clmnista at Moscow University. This high level of training is necessary for meeting the tasks in the field of chemistry in compliance with the directives of the Twenty-first Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The head of t,hechemistry faculty is Profesfor K. V. Topehiem.
The most striking feature of the material quoted above is the "production" concept. The chemistry faculty seems to consider itself a factory turning out a finished product after several manipulations of a raw material. This picture is correct and consistent with many other features of de-individualized Soviet society. Exactly where this product will go, however, is not always easy to ascertain. Most graduates go to research institutes, where they work as research technicians (loosely similar to laboratory assistants in our industrial research laboratories). The others continue a t academic institutions. The movement between research institutes and academic institutions is not completely reversible; above the undergraduate level, moving to an institute from a university is far easier than moving fmm an institute to a university. Generally, the Soviet university emphasizes teaching; and the Soviet institute, research. Research in the chemistry faculty is claimed to be determined by "decisions of the Communist Party with respect to the development of the chemical industry and the national economy in general." While statements to that effectby the chemistry faculty seem to indicate an industrial bent, in actual fact little industrial research is pursued at the university. Indeed, research a t Moscow State University is similar to the academic research we have in the United s t a t e ~ . ~ The staff of the chemistry faculty numbers about forty full professors, with approximately the same number of plepodauately, the Russian counterpart of our university instructor. Some of the older full professors would have been retired years ago in the West. I n general, one of the first impressions one has of Soviet students is their seriousness. The halls, cafeterias, and lounges of the chemistry faculty of Moscow State University are filled with quiet, purposeful youths. Although not as well-dressed nor as neat as college students in the United States, they seem, certainly, more serious and more dedicated than most American students. One is also impressed by the large number of females, about 60% of the chemistry students. The seriousness and even a certain grimness are well justified. Soviet students devote a great amount "his raises the question, "Just where is industrial research as we know it in the West performed?" Laboratories associated with factories themselves, such as the Moscow Vodka Factor,", are of the quality control variety. Research and development apparently are mainly the responsibility of the institutes of the Academy of Sriences. Consulting, which is a rewarding supplement in the United States, seems tn he an onerous task to be avoided in the USSR.
of hard work and study to their schoolwork flom the time they are sevenuntil their graduation from high school. They have to score well on a difficult entrance examination in order t o enter the chemistry faculty. The diploma a t the end of their five-year course is the key to the beginning of a relatively comfortahle life; but since the chemistry faculty is difficult, the student is always under pressure. The general opinion of most students with whom I talked was that the physics faculty was the most difficult and the journalism faculty was the easiest of the seventeen faculties. It is almost impossible to determine the nunlher of chemistry students a t Moscow State University. The number is apparently very closely tied to the longterm plan for the country. I once asked the assistant head of the faculty how many chemistry students were enrolled. He answered that he did not know. When I then asked him approximately how many were registered, he answered that he was not sure and that he would rather not say. Some students, however, estimated the entering classes a t about 300, with a dropout figure of 10% a t the end of fivp years.
-
Student Training
These 300 students were selected largely on the scores they had registered on the chemistry faculty's entrance exams, given in July a t the same time entrance exams for all faculties are given all over the Soviet Union. About fifteen hundred persons take this examination for the chemistry faculty a t Moscow State University. Somewhat less than half of these students are fresh out of high school; the rest are "experienced" people under 35 who had worked a t least two years after having graduated from high school. The 19.59 decree that two years of manual labor of some kind are now necessary before one can go on to an institution of higher learning does not seem to have significantly changed the profile of the xroup . . taking the examinations. TIw rntrring clwmiitry f r r s l ~ m e1 ~ 1 n~w3 goid srienrc horkglaund from high irltool. .\I1 hi~11 a ~ ~ l ~.;tndt:nrs ool receive a considerable amount of training in chemistry, physics, and mathematics-more detailed and complete than that which we generally provide in our high schools. In organic chemistry, for example, the American student a t most receives a brief, general introduction; in the Soviet Union, hoxirever, high school graduates are well aware of details such as benzene. The entering group of three 300 students is broken down into approximately ten groups of 30 students each. These smaller groups, then, go through the first three years together as a unit. Classes in the faculty in the major, daytime, division are from uine in the morning to five in the evening five days a week, and from nine to three on Saturday. There is no hour for lunch, but 15-20 minutes are free each hour. This means that the student is in class about six hours of the total eight-hour period. The length of the school year is nine months. The first three years of the five-year course are identical for all students in the faculty. The first year consists mainly of inorganic chemistry (16 hours), plus eight hours of physics, five hours of a foreign language, five hours of mathematics, four hours of physical education, and three hours of the history of the Volume 40, Number 7, July 1963
/
377
Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The remaining five hours each week are taken up in a shop course and in "special courses." The second year emphasizes the study of analytical and physical chemistry. The third year is mostly organic chemistry. It is a t the fourth year that specialization begins. The student then has to select his narrow "specialty." For instance, he may decide he wants to be a physical chemist, specifically, to work in kinetics with Academician Semenov, or he may decide to become an organic chemist working in the realm of organa-metallics. While this decision should he made chronologically a t least by the same year by our students, the Soviet student cannot easily reverse hi decision; "once a Emetics chemist, always a kinetics chemist." (How free the student is in making his decision cannot be determined. Just as the size of the various classes in the faculty is pre-determined, the relative proportions of chemists are very likely pre-determined.) The fourth year, then, is loosely tailored to individual needs. I n his fifth year, the student works on his diploma work; this involves doing independent research on a scientific problem given h i by his advisor, whom he had officiallychosen near the end of his fourth year. The character of this work is almost identical to that of our graduate work in chemistry. A fifth-year student is roughly comparableto our first-year graduate student. The graduate who has a diploma, then, is probably near our student who has a master's degree. With the diploma also comes one's job assignment. This means two or three years work as repayment to the State for one's education. (This is regarded by the Soviet students as natural and just.) Most Soviet graduates remain a t their jobs indefinitely. Some after the work period attempt to continue in post-graduate study as an asirirad, orgraduatr student, t o work for the next higher~lrgrce,A'o~~rlida/of Sciwcr. . I s n Kn~rrlidat he will receive additional money, enjoy greater prestige, and pursue hi own research to some extent. A person is admitted to the faculty to work for the degree of Kandidat on the basis of recommendations and of his score on the graduate student's entrance examination, which has the same form as the faculty entrance examination but is considerably more difficult. I n recent years, the number of persons admitted has risen sharply. Formerly, about ten graduate students were admitted per year from about two hundred applicants. At present, about 50 are admitted each year.6 I n chemistry, the Kandidat is about the equivalent to our Doctor of Philosophy. However, the Kandidat must publish a t least two papers from hi thesis before he can receive the degree. This is probably the main reason Soviet papers in chemistry are so short. The highest degree is the doctor of science, which has no American equivalent. Ordinarily, it represents about ten years of outstanding scientific research after one has received hi Kandidat degree and has published a t least one substantial book.
Research Conditions
Research conditions and attitudes a t the faculty are considerably different from those a t the chemistry departments of our major univenities. Equipment is generally of the type found in our undergraduate laboratories, and work is therefore tedious by our standards. Russian chemical reagents are of a lower purity than ours. One tiresome consequence of inadequate chemical industry is the fact that one must conserve solvents. Any solvent stripped from a solution has to be collected, purified and used again. Oil baths and heating mantles are scarce, the main heat source is the Bunsen burner. I should point out again that conditions in the institutes are apparently considerably better than in the universities. Whenever a complaint was made a t the university about the scarcity or lack of a certain item, I was told, "Please, we are not an institute." The organi~ationof research is similar to that in other parts of the world, but authority and responsibility are highly concentrated in the hands of middle-aged or elderly men. Bright, young research chemists, those in their late twenties or early thirties, seem to resent this. Another source of frustration-to young and old a l i k e i s the constant, almost insurmountable, red tape. The worst feature of Soviet research, however, stems from the society in which the research is carried out. There is a great lack of free communication between workers. The isolation of the researcher seriously cuts off the development of scientific thought as we understand it. Ideally in the Soviet Union, research is done behind closed doors by one individual and his assistant. Spontaneous groups discussing chemistry are a vital feature of our research approach. I n the Soviet Union, however, these groups rarely exist; consequently, most new techniques and fresh ideas have a far different and much slower genesis than in our country. Even a t the highest levels, there seems to be little visiting among scientists in most fields. The national meetings of the American Chemical Society, a wellspring of stimulation and enthusiasm, have no counterpart in the Soviet Union, for instance. Part of what has been said here has been derived from discussions with my fellow graduate students in the university chemistry faculty. My colleagues there all felt extreme pride in the scientific achievements of the USSR. They felt that Soviet organic chemistry is not the best in the world only because of the lack of equipment. I n fact, they often claimed that modern organic chemistry was invented solely by a Russian. No amount of evidence or reasoning could soften this firm belief. This illustrates, I think, the error in the popular contention that, while statesmen and diplomats may differ, scientists can always come to harmonious agreement regardless of nationality. Scientists, being human, necessarily think in patterns largely determined by their environment. Acknowledgment
Considering all fields, we have about ten times as many graduate students as do the Russians. However, it is dangerous to generalize and draw conclusions from this fact alone, since we have many graduate students in fields where the Soviets offerno higher degrees. Also, Russian students are trained specificallyfor their life work, while Americans do not always use their education directly.
378
/
Journal o f Chemical Education
The author wishes to express his gratitude to the Inter-Univenity Committee on Travel Grants which abroad (1959-60). made possible the year of disIn addition, he wishes to cussions with K. L. Rinehart, Jr.
