Formation of topical topics of dissertation research: The example of educational sciences

the relevance of scientific research is determined by the urgent need of practice and filling the gaps in science. Experts from practice can formulate their needs in the format of a list of relevant topics. The article presents the methods and technologies developed and tested in the formation of the List of relevant topics of scientific research in the field of educational sciences and generalization of this experience for application in other branches of science. The formation of the List of relevant topics of scientific research in the field of educational sciences was organized by the Russian Academy of Education and took about one year. The process covered more than 650 experts of the scientific community from 73 dissertation councils and more than 100 organizations. Based on the analysis of the experience of this event, a methodology for forming a list of relevant topics of dissertation research for application in other branches of science was developed. The methodology considers the process as a multi-level system, including information support, organizational support, technical support and the scientific community. Organizationally, the process consists of a preparatory stage, a stage of collecting topic formulations, multi-level verification of the proposed formulations and approval and execution of the finished list. At each stage, information and technical support of the process is provided using a software package consisting of a module for collecting proposals of topics, a module for verifying the wording of topics, a module for the work of expert groups, a module for publishing and working with the list, and a module for updating the list. The proposed methodology can be used to form lists of relevant topics for various branches of science.