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Purpose
During the past decade, Russian federal authorities have tried to build an effective national innovation system, strongly emphasizing a well-functioning science sector. The purpose of this paper is to look at future developments of Russian science from the perspective of recent policies and their perceptions by Russian scientists. Special emphasis is placed on the so-called "efficient contracts" policy for researchers which should make the remuneration system of public R&D organisations more competitive.


Design/methodology/approach
The paper examines the results of an extensive survey of almost 1,500 Russian scientists and managers at universities and public research organisations conducted by the authors in 2013 and recent statistical data and policy documents.


Findings
The paper concludes that some of the ambitious science and technology goals set by the government will be hard to achieve in the next decade. The scientific landscape is likely to experience certain structural changes but will probably face many of the existing problems. Improvements in overall R&D performance will largely depend on how well the "efficient contracts" policy is implemented.


Originality/value
The future development of Russian science is discussed based on major recent policy documents and the opinions of Russian scientists. The findings might be important for policy makers not only in Russia but other countries as well.

Strengthening the motivation, quality and efficiency of researchers' work is a pressing issue in all countries pursuing active science, technology and innovation policies. One way to address this challenge is by introducing f lexible remuneration mechanisms which are countryspecific yet still share certain basic principles such as a relationship between compensation and research productivity. Improving R&D workers' remuneration is particularly urgent now in Russia given researchers' low salaries in many areas of science (particularly considering the complexity of their work). To address the problem of compensation for researchers, new policy measures have been adopted since 2012. This paper presents new evidence from Russia's scientific community — researchers, managers of R&D organisations, and government representatives — collected via a survey and focus group discussions on the desirability and efficiency of the current remuneration policy. Although most members of Russia's scientific community do not question the necessity and relevance of the government's 'efficient contract' initiative in the R&D sector, its implementation has had a more mixed response. The authors analyse the reasons and effects of this controversy.

In modern conditions of innovative processes development, the creative personality, as well as the appeal to human capital, comes to the fore. The ideas, technologies and developments generated by human creative work, as well as the transaction (considered in the article as a method of social retraining) of intellectual property, become the realities of modern society. In this regard, the term "intellectual property culture" is of great importance, which is studied both by followers of this phenomenon and by specialists working in the field of intellectual property. A number of authors note that there is no understanding of intellectual property among people, its culture has not been formed.This research is relevant because it can contribute to achieving the goals of scientific and technological development, innovative transformation of society, activates a creative personality to produce new results of intellectual activity. The article gives its own definition of intellectual property culture. A significant role in its formation can be played by libraries, which are transformed and acquire new functions of educational and social-communication interaction.The activities of the All-Russian Patent and Technical Library of the Federal Institute of Industrial Property to popularize the field of intellectual property through the "soft power" factor are aimed at working with various target audiences. For adults, they hold thematic meetings on diverse intellectual property issues. In addition, they pay great attention to working with patent information to improve the effectiveness of research in scientific and technical fields. The patent information is a reflection of the results of scientific and design work and makes it possible to evaluate the idea of an invention and determine the starting point of the search for new solutions.As a conclusion, the article presents direct, indirect and prospective factors of the influence of library activities on the formation of intellectual property culture.

The 7th to 3rd century BC funeral and funerary rites of the steppe Scythian population was a major focus of V.S. Olkhovsky's work. He studied the Scythian sites in the region, which covers the southern part of Herodotus' "Scythian square," including the Crimean Peninsula, the Taurica mountains, and the Cimmerian Bosporus. Olkhovsky provided a chronology and classification of burial structures based on 1,857 burials, reflecting their most significant features and aiming to be universal. The number of discovered and excavated burials has since increased to over 5,000, allowing for comparison of Olkhovsky's studies with subsequent research. The new data on the chronology and design of burial structures and on the elements of the funerary rite did not contradict Olkhovsky's classification but expanded it, confirming its universal nature.

This paper deals with the discussion about the item, which is named in the literature as the Sauromatian "mirror". A round disk (with a flat side handle) shows a corrugation on its two sides. The purpose of such a thing that does not have a reflective surface is difficult to determine. However, it cannot be called a "mirror" due to corrugation, so the function of the object has not yet been determined. Having identified an object from the Oguz barrow as a mirror, its researchers established the role of mirrors in the funerary rite of the Pontic Scythia. They put forward the postulate that the mirrors in the composition of the accompanying equipment, laid under the back or left forearm of the deceased, are documented in the 5th—4th centuries BC funerary complexes of dependent women of Scythia. However, regularities are not traced in the arrangement of mirrors for the buried in the North Black Sea region. This does not allow us to present a real picture of the role of mirrors in the funerary rite of the Scythians or their neighbors and to clarify the social status of those buried by the location of these objects. Studies of the funerary rite show that nomads were united only by the desire of the owners of the mirrors to protect their mirror surface from damage that could distort the image of the owner. Therefore, it seems not advisable to equalize objects having double-sided corrugation on the disk with mirrors, without taking into account the differences.