TSU anthropologists creates a portrait of a typical modern scientist

11 October 2016

TSU anthropologists set themselves the task to describe modern scientists and their way of life. This is the first work in the anthropology of scientific life, which affects both Russian and international scientists. According to preliminary conclusions, there are no national boundaries for typical modern young scientists and, what is the most important, they are passionate about their work.

This work contributes to the development of anthropology of scientific life. Now from Russian universities only TSU engaged in this direction. During the study, TSU anthropologists studied field work of astronomers from the National Astronomical Observatory Rozhen, Bulgaria and biologists from TSU Centre of Excellence BioClimLand.

- It is necessary for people to understand that the work of scientists is not only from great discoveries and interesting experiments, - said Irina Popravko, a leading researcher of the Laboratory for Social and Anthropological Research. - First of all it is daily, painstaking work that requires care, assiduity, resistance to stress, and responsibility. The latter quality is particularly important today when science is making under international projects, for example, when samples are collected in Siberia, and sent to the analysis in laboratories of France.

According to preliminary conclusions, in recent years, science is getting younger. This activity allows a person not only to satisfy curiosity but also to become open worldwide. That is, science has become a special way of mobility, where there are no national boundaries. A typical modern scientist fascinated by the subject of the study and ready to devote it the most of the life.

Today, however, a scientist and research are integrated into the complex network of relations: with sponsors, the university administration and the state, other scientists, and others.

Moreover, the work of the modern researchers is largely dependent on funding. Thus, in the case of availability of funds a laboratory can buy more accurate measuring devices, which allows conduct more accurate analysis and to obtain more reliable results.

In the future anthropologists plan to investigate other groups of scientists: geologists, physicists, and others, to describe the features of their work, as well as to compare Russian and international researchers.