Salary gap in Tatarstan’s scientific sector varies by tens of times
Grants of half a million rubles will be allocated to support young scientists to improve their living conditions
An interesting situation has developed on the labour market in Tatarstan's scientific community: the salary gap between newcomers and experienced employees exceeds ten times. But this does not repel young professionals — they still “choose a vocation”. Meanwhile, the competition among researchers is enormous, and there are almost 20 resumes per vacancy. Tatarstan surpasses other regions of Russia in this regard. “The Kazan Scientific School is known all over the world," said Deputy Prime Minister Leyla Fazleeva. Read the details in the material of Realnoe Vremya.
Grant amount — 550k rubles
Tatarstan plans to introduce grants to improve housing conditions for young scientists of the republic. The corresponding draft resolution has been published on the website of the Cabinet of Ministers of the region.
The grant amount will amount to 550,000 rubles. It is planned to cover up to 50 people with payments annually.
It is planned to allocate grants on a competitive basis. Candidates of sciences up to 35 years old and Doctors of Sciences up to 40 years old are allowed to participate.
Other requirements, in addition to the absence of the status of an extremist, foreign agent, terrorist, and others, include at least three years of work experience in science. The contestant must be recognised as needing better housing conditions and be registered accordingly.
The competition committee may refuse to recognise a participant as a winner in case of a low scientific performance rating. Here we are talking about the approved assessment methodology adopted in 2023. The funds for the grant are allocated from the budget of Tatarstan.
“The choice between a vocation and a salary”
Such support for young scientists is actually a basic necessity for staff retention in the field — the average salary of graduate students in Tatarstan is only 7,500 rubles. At the same time, the average earnings among researchers are much higher and reach 94,000 rubles.
As Rifkat Minnikhanov, the president of the Tatarstan Academy of Sciences, said at a briefing on 5 February, the problem of the wage gap is acute in the field, depending on the experience and status of a scientist. According to him, young people can count on just such government support — grants and subsidies.
“At meetings with young scientists, questions about money often arise. We're talking about choosing between a vocation and salaries. The survey showed that people are still choosing a vocation. <...> But financial incentives are one of the most important conditions for attracting personnel," he admitted.
Vladislav Chernov, the deputy director of the Kazan Scientific Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences for Science, brought hope to the discussion. According to him, the incomes of young scientists are still growing — for example, in recent years, salaries in youth laboratories have increased from less than 30,000 rubles to 70,000. The centre regularly develops financial incentive measures for employees.
The problem of salaries of young professionals, although it is in the focus of attention, is still present. However, Chernov clarified that the income level also depends on the field of activity of the scientist.
No to “brain drain”
Surprisingly, low salaries do not cause an outflow of young personnel from the republic — indeed, as Minnikhanov said, young people choose a vocation. In turn, Tatarstan's Deputy Prime Minister Leila Fazleeva only confirmed this point: 84-86% of researchers remain in the republic after defending their dissertations.
“Based on statistical indicators on the total number of teaching staff of universities in the region, the proportion of students, including those with an academic degree, this figure has not changed over the past five years. If we are talking about objective indicators, then this figure remains stable," she said.
Last year, the number of teaching staff in the region's state universities reached 6,200 people, and now it is 6,300. Also in Tatarstan in 2023, compared to the previous year, the number of graduate students aged 27-29 increased from 760 to 854.
“There was, is, and remains high-quality science in Russia. Kazan Scientific School is known all over the world. We are seeing an influx of professionals, including from friendly nations, and the number of qualified specialists remains stable or, in some cases, is even growing," the speaker stated.
Eight resumes per vacancy
The hh.ru's data indirectly confirm the words of Fazleeva. So, in Tatarstan, 7.9 resumes in the field of science and education account for one vacancy, in Russia — 8.7 resumes, the service told Realnoe Vremya.
In the field of “Scientific specialist, researcher”, the competition in Tatarstan is even higher — 19.5 resumes per vacancy. It is noteworthy that the figure for the country as a whole is significantly lower — 13.4 resumes. These data confirm Fazleeva's words about a good scientific school in the republic.
There are no problems with young staff either — over the past 2 months, Tatarstan residents have published 1,600 resumes on scientific specialisations. Of these, 42% belong to applicants aged 25-34 years. Another 15% of resumes were posted by residents of the republic aged 18-24. People aged 35 and over account for only 33% of resumes (22% are 35-44 years old, 8% are 45-54 years old, 3% are 55 years old and older).
“Due to the general trend towards a shortage of personnel, due to the demographic pit in the 1990s, we observe that employers are expanding the boundaries of hiring both older and younger candidates. In the field of Science and Education, employers have become 3.2 times more likely to send job invitations to applicants aged 19-30," the director of the branch commented on the situation on the labour market hh.ru in the Volga region by Albina Sultanova.
