Scientific potential of Belarus
The Programme of Social and Economic Development of the Republic of Belarus for 2006-2010 defines innovative development of economy, energy- and resource saving as priority trends. Their implementation are connected with increasing of the role of scientific researches and developments, turning technical scientific potential to be one of the most important resources of stable economic growth.
Around 30,000 people are involved in science and research in Belarus, working for 330 organizations – institutes of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus (NASB), colleges and universities, research institutions and design bureaus.
Belarus is among the world leaders in fundamental research in physics, mathematics, new materials, computer software.
The main researches and developments, and also personnel and financial resources are concentrated at the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, the ministries of Industry, Education, Health Care, and “Belneftekhim” Concern. The state and problems of reasonable use and protection of natural resources, land and water ecosystems, scientific basis of biotechnological processes of selection, and physical and chemical mechanisms of biosystems functioning are being investigated. For the sake of practical health care they conduct topical scientific researches.
Researches are being conducted in the field of economy, philosophy, and sociology; the development of bases of law-governed state formation is being carried out.
The development of scientific, technical-scientific and innovative activities is mainly determined by the state investment policy one of the trends of which is to support scientific researches and developments. 2005 saw the creation of the Belarus Hi-Tech Park to develop primarily up-to-date innovative technologies and software. By 2010, financial expenditures for research and developments are planned to be increased 2.5-3-fold. The output of new products in industry will amount to 18-20%.
The share of products certified by the international standards for industrial products in Belarus reaches 70%. Active development is seen in the field of technical-scientific cooperation aimed at the Belarusian scientific organizations and enterprises’ exploration of hi-tech markets, arrangement of mutually beneficial technology exchange, effective exchange of technical-scientific information, widening and deepening of links with the world’s science community.
In 2008, researchers from the National Particle Physics and High Energy Center of the Belarusian State University participated in the creation of the Large Hadron Collider, and in 2009 a team of Russian and Belarusian researchers commenced the development of supercomputers that would be unmatched in the world. The new computer will be capable of performing up to 500 trillion operations per second, while the SKIF family computers could perform a maximum of 0.5 trillion operations per second. SKIF supercomputers of the fourth generation are being developed by Belarusian and Russian researchers within the framework of the SKIF-GRID project.
In 2009, the Epidemiology and Microbiology Research Institute formed a set of reagents to diagnose the A/H1N1 flu, also known as the swine flu, and examine its causative agent. The set makes it possible to diagnose patients with clinical signs of the flu from 24 to 48 hours.
The Central Botanical Garden of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus is both a center of scientific research and a popular site of public recreation for Minsk residents and guests. The Garden is one of the biggest parks in Europe (153ha). Its collection comprises nearly 10,000 species and types of plants from the various climatic zones of the world.
