Changes to the Russian Legislation on Science and Technology Enacted in 2016

Monitoring in question covers the major changes in Russian legislation relevant to the field of science and innovation that took place between January and December 2016 and are conventionally divided into the following areas: scientific and technical policy and organization of science, intellectual property and technology transfer, integration of science and education, innovative policy and development of the national innovation system. Among the laws promulgated stands out the Federal Law "On Biomedical Cell Products" that regulates development, research, review, state registration, production and medical use of biomedical cellular products. Another noteworthy development authors of the article believe to be the series of amendments to the Federal Law "On Librarianship" covering the creation of the federal information system "National Electronic Library". To sum up the changes to the legislation enacted in 2016 were mostly technical rather than conceptual by nature. A detailed regulation of the scientific and technical sphere was mainly carried out at the subordinate level: by the acts of the President of the Russian Federation, the Government of the Russian Federation, ministries and departments. The most important changes include the reorganization of the two largest Russian foundations supporting scientific activity. The measure was put into effect by the Decree No. 325-r of February 29, 2016 of the Government of the Russian Federation approving merger of the Russian Foundation for Humanity Studies (RFHS) into the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (RFBR). Thus the sphere of reference of the RFBR has been expanded into the field of humanities and social sciences previously covered by the activities of RFHS. Another major legal development took form of the Strategy for Scientific and Technological Development of the Russian Federation put into effect by a Decree of the President of the Russian Federation. The Strategy defines the goal and the key tasks of the scientific and technological development of the Russian Federation, establishes principles, priorities, major directions and means to implement state policy in the area, as well as its’ expected results.