The structure of the Soviet system of higher edu- 

 cation is complex, involving many ministries, agen- 

 cies, and Communist party organizations at both the 

 union and republic levels. The Ministry of Higher 

 and Specialized Secondary Education (MinVUZ) , which 

 has direct administrative authority over the vast 

 majority of VUZy, is preeminent, however. In addi- 

 tion, this Ministry maintains a number of indepen- 

 dent research and experimental facilities. Because 

 the Ministry is a union-republic ministry and be- 

 cause it administers research ranging from funda- 

 mental to narrowly applied, the relationship of Min- 

 VUZ to superior, subordinate, and other organs is 

 complex. This relationship is depicted in Figure 9-8 



In general, the plans of the Academy and Gosplan 

 concerned, respectively, with fundamental research 

 and innovation must be accommodated in MinVUZ plan- 

 ning. However, the Ministry of Higher and Special- 

 ized Secondary Education as a rule administers di- 

 rectly the scientific work of the majority of VUZy 

 except for those establishments whose specialty has 

 made it more logical to place them under the juris- 

 diction — or partial jurisdiction — of a branch min- 

 istry. The administrative functions of MinVUZ in- 

 clude examination and approval of subordinate fa- 

 cility R&D plans and control over certain aspects 

 of funding. 



As previously noted, however, higher educational 

 institutions have been assigned primarily a pedagog- 

 ical function, while the Academy and ministerial sub- 

 systems have been the main centers for advanced R&D. 

 Though the separation of research from teaching was 

 never absolute, the separation of the two realms 

 was striking, particularly compared to the United 

 States. Since the 1950s the Soviet leadership has 

 taken steps to build closer links between education 

 and research, between the VUZy and Academy insti- 

 tutes, on the one hand, and between the VUZy and the 

 world of industrial R&D and production, on the other. 

 Indeed, various research complexes have been formed 

 in some areas which seek to bring all three institu- 

 tional subsystems into intimate contact and joint 

 action. 



62 



