National committee of biologists of Russia

The National Committee of Soviet Biologists (now the National Committee of Biologists of Russia) was established by order of the Presidium of the Academy of Sciences (AS) of the USSR No. 210-2916 dated December 30, 1957 after the USSR Academy of Sciences joined the International Union of Biological Sciences (IUBS).

IUBS, created in 1919, plays a recognized role in the development of the most important areas of modern biology. This union includes 44 core members, mostly from the Academies of Sciences, and 80 scientific members (Associations, Scientific Societies and Commissions). Every three years, the General The IUBS holds assemblies which outline the paths for the development of biology for the coming years. The most recent, 29th General Assembly was held in 2007 in Washington. At the disposal of the Presidium of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, the tasks of the Committee being created were defined as: - strengthening the ties of Soviet biologists with foreign organizations; - preparation for activities related to the participation of Soviet biologists in international congresses on biological sciences; - informing the Soviet scientific community about the work of the IUBS; - posing questions to various organizations in connection with the preparation and results of international congresses in biological sciences; - providing assistance to the development of the exchange of scientific texts between Soviet and foreign biologists. During all these years, the scientific, organizational and financial support of the Committee was provided by the A.N. Severtsov Institute of Evolutionary Morphology and Ecology of Animals of the USSR Academy of Sciences (at present - the A.N.Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IEE RAS)).

In accordance with the Regulations on the National Committee of Biologists of Russia, the executive body of the Committee is its Presidium, elected at the general meeting of the Committee for a period of three years. The Presidium includes the Chairman of the Committee, his deputy, academic secretary and members of the Presidium. The first chairman of the National Committee of Soviet Biologists was Academician V.N.Sukachev, who was replaced in this post by Academician M.S. Gilyarov. From 1985 to 1998, the Committee was headed by Academician V.E. Sokolov, in 1998-2002 – by academician N.G. Khrushchov. In 2002, Academician D.S. Pavlov became the head of the Committee, his deputies are Academician Yu.Yu.Dgebuadze (since 2007) and Doctor of Biological Sciences A.A. Kotov (since 2015), Scientific Secretary – Ph.D. V.V. Bobrov (since 2007).

The National Committee of Biologists of Russia (NCBR) constantly maintains contacts with the Secretariat of the IUBS; the leadership of the NCBR takes part in the work of its governing bodies - the General Assembly and the Executive Committee.

For a number of years, the International Scientific Program for the Conservation of Biological Diversity “DIVERSITAS” has been in the center of attention of both the IUBS and the National Committee of Biologists of Russia (this program is currently being modified).

IUBS and NCBR pay great attention to the implementation of such directions as improving and raising the level of training of biologists, studying the concentration of harmful elements in ecosystems, developing methods of bioindication and biomonitoring, conducting research on reproduction biology and aquaculture, on taxonomy and bio-nomenclature. Under the auspices of the IUBS, a worldwide inventory of species diversity - “Species-2000” has been started.

For the information of the international scientific community, the NCBR prepared special analytical reviews on scientific research carried out on the initiative of the IUBS. In particular, the IUBS journal "Biology International" published review articles on research carried out by Russian specialists. A series of articles on global and regional systems of ecological monitoring and problems of biodiversity conservation, on the development of the International Program "DIVERSITAS" and the possible role of Russia in its implementation, as well as on long-term ecological studies were published in the journal "Successes of Modern Biology". Research programs in Russia under the Programs of Basic Research of the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences "Biodiversity" and "Wildlife" started in the 200s were carried out taking into account international experience.

Eventually, the Russian Academy of Sciences initiated the development of research on ecological megatransects to study the possible impact of global climate and environmental changes on biological diversity. In recent years, this direction has attracted more and more attention, and in 2009 these ideas started being implemented in the framework of the international IUBS project (with the participation of Russia) "Biological Consequences of Global Change". In 2011, field studies of international groups of scientists on this project began in the middle reaches of the river Yenisei, in Mongolia and on the Qinghai-Tibet plateau in China.

Membership of the Russian Academy of Sciences in the IUBS provides an opportunity to for Russian scientists to be be promoted to the governing bodies of this organization and, therefore, to cast their own votes in the IUBS and the structure of its programs. In particular, in July 2012, at the General Assembly of the IUBS in Suzhou (PRC), the Deputy Chairman of the National Committee of Biologists of Russia, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Yu.Yu. Dgebuadze was elected Vice President of the IUBS. In December 2015, at the 32nd General Assembly of the IUBS / IUBS in Berlin (Germany), Doctor of Biological Sciences was elected a member of the IUBS Executive Committee. A.A. Kotov. The work of the representative of the Russian Academy of Sciences in the Executive Committee of the IUBS / IUBS made it possible in recent years to form a joint research project and to support a number of events organized by the RAS. The National Committee of Biologists of Russia receives periodicals (in particular, the journal Biology International) and working materials on the IUBS / IUBS programs, which makes it possible to keep abreast of the processes and trends observed in modern biology, to draw the attention of Russian scientists to them. The IUBS / IUBS has also repeatedly provided assistance in holding international meetings and providing financial support for the participation of RAS specialists in international meetings, which is extremely important in modern conditions of financing fundamental science.

The National Committee of Biologists of Russia, with the support of IUBS, has carried out a number of publications (in particular the map “Vegetation of the European part of Russia”), international conferences, meetings, schools of young scientists, seminars, symposia in promising areas of general biology. In particular, for example, in the past 5 years with the participation and support of the National Committee of Biologists of Russia and the IUBS:

- the materials of the III International Symposium "Alien Species in the Holarctic" ("Borok-3"), which took place in Myshkin on October 5-9, 2010 (also supported by the ISBN), were published;

- the Chinese-Russian Symposium on the Conservation of the Amur Tiger was held in Hunchun (China) (2011);

- the work under the “Biological Consequences of Global Change” project was carried out, collection of materials on the biodiversity of vertebrates of taiga ecosystems in Russia, Mongolia (Yenisei basin) and China (Qinghai- Tibetan Plateau) (2011-2013);

- the IV International Symposium "Alien Species in the Holarctic" ("Borok-4") was conducted in pos. Borok, Yaroslavl region, 2013;

- the 5th International Conference on Rodent Biology and Management was organized in Zhengzhou, China, 2014;

- the International Conference "Ecosystems of Central Asia in the modern conditions of socio-economic development" was held in Ulan Bator (Mongolia), September 2015;

- work was carried out to prepare a 3-year joint Norwegian-Russian-Chinese educational project on plague research (PlagPART: A Norwegian-Russian-Chinese research and training network on the study of plague), headed by the President of the IUBS prof. Nils Stenseth (Principal Investigator (PI): Prof. Nils Chr. Stenseth), 2015 project supported by the Norwegian Academy of Sciences;

- work was carried out to organize the International meeting "The impact of global changes on the spread of diseases and alien species" ("Global change impact on diseases and alien species expansion workshop"), May 2-6, 2016, Cape Town, South Africa;

- work has begun on the organization of the 5th International Symposium "Alien Species in the Holarctic" ("Borok-5"), pos. Borok, Yaroslavl region, September 2017. Further details can be found on the IUBS site: www.iubs.org