From czarist times to the days of pere-stroika, the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) was the pillar of the nation's scholarship, boasting the country's best scientists as members. The dramatic decline in science spending after the break-up of the Soviet Union ended the academy's days of plenty, and although funding has rallied in recent years, those roubles have increasingly gone to other research centres. Now awaiting the first new academy president in more than two decades, Russian scientists hope that the leadership will revive the struggling institution and bring about reform they feel is long overdue.
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