"The reputation of science begins with respect for scientists!" A Karelian Science Center employee held a picket.
An employee of the Karelian Research Center's Forest Institute held a picket with a poster reading, "The reputation of science begins with respect for scientists." She was protesting the actions of the center's director, Olga Bakhmet. According to the protester, under her leadership, disloyal scientists have been fired: some are being offered contracts for only a month, and her colleague, Alexander Kryshen, who won the election for the institute's director, beating Bakhmet, was fired before he could take office.
"By picketing, I wanted, first of all, to draw the attention of my colleagues and the public to the way the center's management treats scientists. The Karelian Research Center of the Bakhmet era doesn't need talented scientists. They're not hiring Viktor Ilyukha, a doctor of biological sciences and the former director of the Institute of Biology. This is all because he asked questions that Bakhmet found uncomfortable. They fired Alexander Kryshen, a doctor of biological sciences who dared to win the election. PhDs in biological sciences, professionals in a narrow field of science, are also not valued, as if these people graduate in droves from universities every year, rather than having followed a unique path and learned from the experience of people, some of whom are no longer with us. With the dismissal of Tatyana Tarelkina, a candidate of biological sciences, an entire field and a scientific school—the anatomy and cytology of woody plants—is at risk of extinction. It's important to understand that no one has done more damage to the center's reputation," said Olga, A participant in the picket told "Regional Aspect".
The police questioned the picketer, but everything went smoothly: they checked her documents and took her photo. She plans to continue her protests on Monday.
Since the beginning of the year, employees of the Forest Institute have been asking the center's director some tough questions. They inquired about how and when incentive payments are calculated, wrote appeals and open letters, and stood up for the dismissed Alexander Kryshen. Because the PhD candidates were threatened with dismissal, they planned to go on strike, but postponed it for now: the competition for the vacancies was announced at the last minute.
