Academy of Sciences: More life - closer to practice!
January 26, 2018 | 10:29 |293
Today, President Berdimuhamedov, at a general assembly of the Academy of Sciences of Turkmenistan, approved the decision of 17 members of the Academy to elect Sapardurdy Toyliev as president of the country's main scientific department, releasing him from his post as vice-premier. It seemed to many that the former deputy of Berdimuhamedov as head of the government was significantly lowered in the table of ranks. However, in our opinion, this displacement should be apprehended not as a “punishment”, but as an attempt to strengthen the positions of Turkmen science and its role in the development of society. S.Toyliev is well-known scientist and pedagogue in the country. In the early of 1980’s he passed residency training in Moscow, at the Institute of Cardiovascular Surgery named after A.N.Bakulev under the Academy of Medical Sciences, which has prestige among scientific society. In the same place, having successfully completed postgraduate studies, he defended his dissertation thesis for the degree of candidate of medical sciences.Alexander BAYRIEV
In the track record of his pedagogical activity – the professional course from the laboratory assistant to the rector of the state medical institute (now a medical university). S.Toyliev has accumulated certain experience as the organizer of science too, working for the Cabinet of Ministers – first, as the head of respective department, and subsequently, as the deputy head of the government, when he was in charge of, among others, science issues.
So, promoting the experienced pedagogue, scientist and organizer of science to the post of president of the Academy of Sciences, let us repeat, the pragmatic president of Turkmenistan proceeded from the desire to close the gap between science and real needs of life as soon as possible.
A few days earlier, the former head of the Academy, M. Ashirbayev, was sent to the earned rest. He is a typical representative of Soviet science, which was famous for the whole world with the depth of theoretical research, but (with the exception of the defense industry) it struggled with great difficulty in the practical sphere.
Berdimuhamedov is an academician of the Academy of Sciences of Turkmenistan, the holder of doctoral degrees in medical and economic sciences, an honorary professor and doctor of a number of foreign scientific and educational institutions.
One of his first reforms as president of the country was the revival of the Academy of Sciences, at one time disbanded by Niyazov in the difficult 1990’s.
Within next years the Turkmen leader has opened a number of research and educational institutions (the Technology Center, the Engineering and Technology University, the International University of Oil and Gas, the International University for the Humanities and Development, the Institute of Public Utilities, etc.), as well as training centers for improvement of professional skill of specialists and scientific and pedagogical personnel.
The reorganization of existing, but obsolescent universities, their equipping with modern facilities for scientific research can be added as well.
At the general assembly of the Academy of Sciences of Turkmenistan, President Berdimuhamedov said that in the near future he would meet again with Turkmen scientists and outline a range of topical problems that would require the experience of the new head of the country's main scientific department.
