Vernadsky Project «Ukrainian Academy of Sciences»: To the 160th anniversary of the birth of academician V. I. Vernadskyi

Abstract

The organizational formation of Ukrainian academic science in 1918 is considered. The subject of the study is the project of V. I. Vernadskyi “Ukrainian Academy of Sciences”. The complexity of this project and its innovative components are shown. In particular, significant organizational expansion of natural science research. Attention was drawn to the prediction in the project of the need for organizational foundations of research in the field of applied sciences. The article takes into account the research experience of the mentioned issue in modern Ukrainian historiography. At the same time, attention was drawn to the contradictory views of V. I. Vernadsky regarding the national nature of the development of Ukrainian science. It is noted that V. I. Vernadskyi’s concept of the development of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences was much broader and richer than the concept proposed by M. S. Hrushevskyi. Some details of V. I. Vernadskyi’s discussion with M. S. Hrushevskyi on this matter have been disclosed. It is shown that V. I. Vernadskyi’s project was not limited to the creation of such a structure as the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences. It was also extended to the creation of structures important for the functioning of academic institutions, such as the National Library of Ukraine. It is claimed that the defining feature of V. I. Vernadsky’s project “Ukrainian Academy of Sciences” was its systematicity. The project involved an organic combination of a number of conceptual factors of the organization of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, one of which is the need for the recognition of the Ukrainian Academy by the international academic community. The presented concept of V. I. Vernadskyi for the creation of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences should, in the opinion of the authors, contribute to the awareness of the world scientific community of the historical paths of the development of science in Ukraine. The given concept testifies to the significant positive influence of the national movement on the development of the foundations of the functioning of the state and the use of its scientific potential. As an appendix to the article, the concept of the scientific community and the main principles of its functioning are given and briefly discussed. In particular, it is stated that science as a profession, in its activity, has cardinal differences from the determinants of behavior characteristic of administrative and corporate activities.