From Vision to Action

The institutional transformation of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences began with reforms implemented in 1766 under Lomonosov's influence. The Academy of Sciences did not function exactly as Peter the Great had envisioned it. The Academic Chancellery, headed by librarian Daniel Schumacher, began to assume real power, and the Academy gradually became a large complex with several affiliated institutions. This limited the proportion of academic staff, their voice, and their freedom of research. Lomonosov took an active part in the Academy's administration, in addition to his scientific research. As one of its leaders, he wrote new statutes proposing the abolition of the Academic Chancellery and the establishment of the position of vice president, which would give academicians the right to manage the academy; closing down affiliated institutions that had less relevance to scientific research; expanding research fields, increasing the number and rank of academicians; and vigorously developing science education, among other measures. After his death, manuscripts containing his reform ideas were presented to the court, which became a key factor in promoting the Academy's reform. This reform enhanced its institutionalization, laying its institutional foundation for the next one and a half centuries.