Senior Research Worker

(starshii nauchnyi sotrudnik), in the USSR, an academic title and staff position in scientific research institutions and higher educational institutions, conferred by a resolution of the collegium of the Supreme Certifying Commission of the Council of Ministers of the USSR. For institutions of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR and academies of the Union republics, the title is conferred by the Presidium of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR; until 1976 it was also conferred by the presidiums of the academies of sciences of the Union republics, the Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR, the Academy of Agricultural Sciences, and the Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of the USSR.

The title of senior research worker is conferred upon the recommendation of councils of higher educational institutions, scientific research institutions, and scientific industrial associations on doctors and candidates of sciences with publications or inventions to their credit. Those who are best qualified are selected for the positions of senior research worker, head of a department, or director of a laboratory. The title may also be conferred on departmental directors of scientific research institutions, scientific industrial associations, and higher educational institutions. In addition, it may be conferred on persons who have held the position of academic secretary in a given institution for at least a year and who have completed at least five years of research and teaching, including at least three years of research. The council’s decision on a recommendation for the title of senior research worker is made by secret ballot. Persons awarded the title receive standard certificates.