President Shavkat Mirziyoyev reviewed a presentation of proposals aimed at improving the system of training scientific personnel and increasing the efficiency of science, the presidential press service reported.
It was noted that in recent years, Uzbekistan has implemented a number of reforms to support science, enhance international competitiveness, and strengthen scientific activity. The number of articles published in international journals and the share of research in high-ranking publications have been increasing.
The presentation discussed several initiatives to bring the scientific personnel training system to a new level. In particular, it was proposed to introduce a new system for training scientific personnel in priority areas such as artificial intelligence, renewable energy, food security, medicine, water resources, new materials, and seismology.
Plans include increasing doctoral stipends in these areas by 1.7 times, as well as allocating additional funds annually for the purchase of equipment and reagents used in research.
Additionally, a result-oriented mechanism for incentivizing scientific supervisors was proposed, taking into account their international scientific activity indicators based on successfully defended dissertations.
The presentation also addressed issues of improving the activities of the Higher Attestation Commission of the Republic of Uzbekistan. Proposals include transferring the commission to the system of the Academy of Sciences, evaluating the work of scientific councils based on ratings, and fully digitizing the processes of awarding academic degrees.
Specifically, it is planned to reduce 50% of the current procedures in dissertation defenses through digitization. This would eliminate excessive paperwork, printing multiple copies of abstracts, and repeated discussions of dissertations.
It was also proposed to launch the "Scientific Degree within a Project" and "Practical Doctorate" programs. Under this approach, PhD research would be shaped based on the needs of the real economy sector and carried out in cooperation with enterprises.
The presentation also discussed improving the system of financing scientific projects, attracting international experts, introducing a unified digital system for monitoring scientific activities, and strengthening mechanisms of academic integrity.
The President emphasized the importance of thoroughly developing the proposed initiatives, improving the quality of scientific research, and modernizing the scientific personnel training system in line with contemporary requirements.
Source: www.gazeta.uz