Far East Scientific Center of the Academy of Sciences of the Union of

a union of scientific research and auxiliary institutions of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR that are located in the Far East. Organized in 1970. Its main tasks are the development of fundamental research in the field of natural and social sciences, work on scientific problems to stimulate swifter development of the economy and productive forces of the Far East, and the coordination of the research in the natural and social sciences being conducted by the scientific institutions of the Acadermy of Sciences of the USSR and by ministries, departments, and institutions of higher learning in the Far East.

The main trends in the center’s research are the study of the geological structure and the distribution of minerals in the Far East (including the Pacific ore belt and the zone of transition from the continent to the ocean); research on a complex of geophysical, geological, and chemical-biological problems associated with the study of the Pacific Ocean and its seas; and the study of the biologically active substances of flora and fauna (including marine organisms). The solution of problems concerning the development and distribution of productive forces, the history and culture of the peoples of the Far East and Southeast Asia, and the complex development of the northern regions of the Far East is of particular importance.

The scientific center includes institutes of automation and management processes (with a computer center); chemistry; the Far East Geological Institute; biology and soils; biologically active substances; biology of the sea; and volcanology; the Khabarovsk, Northeastern, and Sakhalin integrated research institutes; the Pacific Institute of Geography; an institute of history, archaeology, and ethnography of the peoples of the Far East; and a section for economic research and the Council for the Coordination of Research in the Natural and Social Sciences. The center has a botanical garden and mountain-taiga, solar service, and magnetic observation stations.

The scientific-organizational activities of the Far East Scientific Center are supervised by the presidium of the center. United scientific councils for the major fields of science are formed within the presidium.