Russia

Early Russian Nanoscience

The potential of nanotechnology has not been lost on Russia, with its long tradition as a leader in basic science (particularly theoretical research), including early research on nanostructured materials using novel synthetic approaches in the 1970s. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Russian scientists published papers in almost all areas of fundamental nanotechnology research. In addition, strong programs were pursued emphasizing solid-state materials and theoretical physics to understand how nanoscale materials—such as carbon and silica nanotubes and fullerenes—form, and how such nanomaterials are functionalized with other chemical groups. Russia also had a strong showing in the development and application of electron and scanning probe microscopy for visualizing and characterizing nanomaterials. This work was largely funded through mechanisms intended to advance fundamental science in traditional physical science and engineering disciplines.

Russian Institutions and Funding Mechanisms

The current Russian government has seized upon this legacy, as well as the promise of nanotechnology to project Russia's new self-image as a great power and its visions for strategic opportunism. The Kremlin now frames the leap into nanotechnology as integral to a high-stakes global race, with potential for yielding payoffs greater than those in the nuclear and space fields combined for defining Russia's future as a superior innovative economy and military. Breakthroughs offer not only to erase the negative impact on Russian prestige associated with the protracted post-Soviet transition and Russia's disappointing performance in the computer and biotechnology sectors, but also to secure the country's emergence as one of the world's leading economies with conspicuous competitive advantages. Inextricably linked to the restoration of national self-confidence, the nanotechnology revolution has become a beacon for the Kremlin's claims to global leadership for the foreseeable future, and for the effort to reinvigo-rate the Russian population's sense of greatness of its domestic scientific-technical endeavors.

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