The certificates give the inventors/authors public 

 acknowledgment, and if use of the invention or inno- 

 vation results in production cost savings, monetary 

 rewards often are given to the inventors. 1? 



An important function of the Committee is the na- 

 tional dissemination of information about inventions. 

 This is accomplished through the Committee* s Central 

 Scientific Research Institute of Patent Information 

 and Technical Economic Investigation and through the 

 journal Discoveries, Inventions, Industrial Proto- 

 types, and Trade Marks ( Otkrytiya, izobreteniya, pro- 

 myshlennyye obraztsy, tovarnyye znaki) . 



The Higher Certification Commission (VAK) 



The Higher Certification Commission approves the 

 awarding of advanced degrees, makes all appointments 

 to senior academic positions, and selects the higher 

 educational institutions for advanced training in re- 

 search. The Commission also has the authority to re- 

 voke degrees. The Commission is made up of profes- 

 sors, doctors of science, and members of the USSR and 

 republic academies of sciences. Since 1974 VAK has 

 been an agency of the USSR Council of Ministers. Pre- 

 viously, it was subordinate to the USSR Ministry of 

 Higher and Specialized Secondary Education. 



THE THREE INSTITUTIONAL SUBSYSTEMS 

 PERFORMING R&D 



Structurally, scientific R&D in the USSR is based 

 within three different institutional subsystems: (1) 

 academies of sciences; (2) industrial branch minis- 

 tries; and (3) higher educational institutions or 

 VUZy. The terms "academy science," "branch sci- 

 ence," and "VUZ science" are commonly used in re- 

 ferring to this tripartite division of the research 

 sector. Indeed, Soviet science is divided predomi- 

 nantly along institutional and administrative lines 

 rather than according to different kinds of activity, 



45 



