In 2023, the amount of funding for 10 800 active projects amounted to 40.4 billion Russian rubles (appx.US$ 463 million), thereby increasing from 32.4 billion rubles in 2022. In total, 64 700 scientists from 838 organizations from 81 regions were engaged in the RSF-funded research. As a result of their activities in the past year, some 30 600 publications were published in leading academic journals.
In 2023, 17 calls for proposals were released. Some 4 000 external reviewers assessed applications submitted. As a result, out of 16 800 applications submitted some 3 600 new projects from 635 host organizations located in 78 regions across Russia were awarded. The success rate on average stood around 21%.
With regards to the number of applications submitted, research organizations from the Central Federal District (35.1%), Siberian Federal District (15.1%) and Northwestern Federal District (14.5%) topped the list. In 2023, scientists from a mere 23,6% of the research performing organizations in Russia applied for grants to the Russian Science Foundation.
Researchers from Siberian Federal District have again taken a confident leading position in terms of the number of RSF grant applications submitted to the number of R&D organizations located in the region. Research in Siberia also outperformed other regions in terms of the number of RSF grants they received to the number of R&D personnel in the region.
Traditionally, the largest number of awards in 2023 was in engineering sciences (17%), chemistry and materials sciences (15.8%), surprisingly followed by social sciences and humanities (13,8%).
In terms of the number of project awards in 2023, the leaders were Lomonosov Moscow State University (3.3%), St. Petersburg State University (2.9%), Kazan Federal University (1.5%), Ural Federal University (1.5%), ITMO university (1.3%), , HSE university (1.3%), Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (1.2%), Tomsk State University (1.2%), Tomsk Polytechnic University (1%) and Southern Federal University (1%).
In 2023, despite the global turbulence RSF grantees continued to publish their results in high-profile academic journals and participated in influential international research collaborations. 40,5 % of the RSF-funded research output is published in the first quartile journals.
About 70% of the team members funded by the RSF are young researchers under 39 years old. More than 43% of the PIs do not have academic degree. 32.8% of all RSF PIs represent female scientists (up from 30% in 2022).
23% of the RSF-funded publications in 2023 are result of the international collaborations. This corresponds to the RSF indicators of previous years. For the first time, China has become major academic partner in research collaborations of the RSF-funded research, followed by US, Germany, France, UK, Spain, Italy, India, Japan and Belarus.
The RSF continued to encourage international research cooperation. The Foundation participates in a number of bilateral funding schemes that help outstanding Russian researchers participate in collaborative research projects with their top international peers. In 2023, the RSF provided funding for 223 international collaborative projects in the total amount of US$ 16,7 million (in 2022 – 167 projects worth of US$ 14,3 million). The Foundation has expanded its position in Asia and CIS region, mainly thanks to the new partnerships and joint projects with China, India, Belarus, Iran, Vietnam and Mongolia.
