32 
The Academicians are in the process of reviewing the charter of the 
Academy and changes have been proposed. For example, the Chief Scientific 
Secretary may be assigned a four-year term and may be required to be a 
member of the Presidium before his electiontothe Secretaryship. Four-year 
terms have been recommended for Presidium members, Secretaries of the 
Departments and their deputies, members of the Departmental Bureaus, and 
Academy Institute Directors. Only the President would have a five-year 
term. (>4) 
Relations of the U.S.S.R. Academy of Sciences With 
Non-Academy Administrative Organs and Facilities 
Before 1961, the Academy enjoyed a high degree of autonomy. The 
Academy President sat ex officio at deliberations of the U.S.S.R. Council of 
Ministers. The Academy President is now a member of the U.S.S.R. State 
Committee for the Coordination of Scientific Research, and Academy affairs 
are represented on the U.S.S.R. Council of Ministers by the Chairman of the 
Coordination Committee. The Academy no longer administers scientific 
affairs outside its own jurisdiction except ina supervisory capacity. The voice 
of the Academy is strongest inthe specialized councils which have been formed 
to explore the main problem areas in Soviet science and seta system of priorities 
in research and technology. These are called scientific councils. 
To implement the instructions of the Party and the U.S.S.R. Council of 
Ministers, the U.S.S.R. Academy has formed 27 scientific councils attached to 
its Presidium as of 1962. Additional councils are to be formed as required. 
Twenty-four similar councils are attached to the U.S.S.R. Coordination Com - 
mittee.(97,51) The Academy scientific councils work on basic or theoretical 
problems, andthe Coordination Committee scientific councils workon problems 
having a predominantly technological orapplied character. The Academy bears 
a heavy responsibility forthe workofallthe scientific councils. A large num- 
ber of the scientific councils are controlled by members of the Academy, and 
Academy members take an active part in all of them.(97) The Academy 
President said, "Undoubtedly, if we wish to increasethe role of the Academy, 
then we have to shy away from the organizational side of scientific activity.... 
It is precisely by means of scientific councils that all of our leading scientists, 
and not just those of the Presidium of the Academy and its Departments, will 
(62) 
direct science."! 
As late as November, 1961, some of the scientific councils were still in 
an organizational stage. These scientific councils are not the same as the 70 
councils formed by the Academy before 1961. While these still exist, many 
are no longer functioning, (©2) The Presidium has prepared a statement of 
membership, rights, and duties ofits councils.(62-64) The President promised 
eae 
