Russian scientists launch nonprofit research foundation

Science : Nonprofit organizations in Russia face more obstacles than those in many other countries, particularly since the passage of the foreign agent law three years ago. Besides requiring all nonprofits that receive foreign financing to declare themselves foreign agents, which has serious political implications, the law imposes a number of restrictions. One casualty has been the July shutdown of Russia’s only private research funder, Dynasty, which had been started by Russian telecommunications magnate Dmitry Zimin and provided some $30 million to support Russian scientists, teachers, festivals, and lectures. However, some of those funds were held outside Russia. To fill the void, a new company has launched, albeit with much more modest ambitions. Called Evolution, it is backed by a group of scientists. Lacking the financial resources of its predecessor, Evolution will start small by organizing science festivals, publishing Russian science books, and translating foreign science books into Russian.