general planning and cqordina.ting activities with ad- 

 ministrative responsibility for a large number of R&D 

 facilities. 



The State Committee for Science and Technology (GKNT ) 



Within this governmental structure the State Com- 

 mittee for Science and Technology occupies a pivotal 

 role. It acts as a "special balancing mechanism" for 

 the USSR Council of Ministers, providing cohesion and 

 coordination among the state committees and central 

 departments. ° That is, the GKNT is the agency that 

 bears primary responsibility for ensuring the formu- 

 lation and conduct of a unified S&T policy. 



The GKNT, an all-union agency, was formed in 1965, 

 replacing the union-republic State Committee for the 

 Coordination of Scientific Research, Other predeces- 

 sor organizations of the GKNT performing a similar 

 function were the State Scientific and Technical Com- 

 mittee (1957-1961) , the State Committee for New Tech- 

 nology (1955-1957), Gosplan (1951-1955), and the 

 State Committee for the Introduction of Advanced 

 Technology into the National Economy (1947-1951) . Un- 

 til 1947 the planning of science and technology was 

 handled within Gosplan. ° 



The State Committee itself consists of about 70 

 members, about a third of whom are members of the 

 USSR Academy of Sciences and other academies. Some 

 Government ministers and prominent industrial leaders 

 sit on the GKNT. Among the ex officio members are 

 the President of the USSR Academy of Sciences, the 

 Chairman of the State Committee for Standards, the 

 Chairman of the State Committee for Inventions and 

 Discoveries, the Minister of Higher and Specialized 

 Secondary Education, and a deputy chairman of Gos- 

 plan. Some top executives from the Committee staff 

 are also members of the GKNT. The State Committee, 

 as such, meets only once or twice a year to consider 

 the main directions for the development of science 

 and technology as well as to approve the list of pri- 

 ority R&D problems to be included in the five year 

 plan. 



37 



