The Russian Academy of Sciences was founded by Peter’s the Great order on February 8, 1724. In 1925 it was renamed to the USSR Academy of Sciences, and in 1991 – to the Russian Academy of Sciences. June 7, 1999, the Russian Science Day celebration was established with date on February 8 by the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation. The decree states that the festival was set up "taking into account a prominent role of the national science in the development of the state and society, following the historical traditions and in commemoration of the 275th anniversary of the founding of the Academy of Sciences in Russia."
Mikhail Lomonosov, Ivan Pavlov, Dmitri Mendeleev, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, Pyotr Kapitsa, Lev Landau , Igor Kurchatov, Pavel Alexandrov, Sergei Korolev - these are just a small part of the names of Russian scientists who have made contributions to world science.
Russia was the first country where the doctrine of the biosphere was developed, the world's first space satellite was launched, the world's first nuclear power plant was set in operation. Many Russian and Soviet scientists were awarded with Nobel Prizes. The academician Ivan Pavlov became the first of them in 1904 for his work on the physiology of digestion. The last winner was Russian physicist K.S. Novoselov in 2010.
Currently, the structure of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) consists of thirteen departments on different areas of science, three regional departments and 15 regional scientific centers. Total Academy as 1046 academic institutions, more than 44 thousand of scientists, including more than 500 academics and 1000 corresponding members.