Ontology of designing a scientific direction: formation, development, examples

The article presents the author's view of the ontology of scientific direction and the ontology of designing a scientific direction, which was discussed at the scientific seminar "Ontology of Designing" in February 2021. Another change in the classification of scientific disciplines, presented by the Higher Attestation Commission under the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, and the subsequent restructuring of the qualification structure of Russian science determined the relevance of the topic addressed in the article. An attempt is made to analyze what the scientific achievements, directions, disciplines, problems, and scientifically based solutions are and what they consist of; whether these terms are concepts, what are their definitions and whether they are attributed, and whether there is an agreement on their content in the scientific community. The purpose of the study was to define the concept of "scientific direction", to identify its attributes, and to give examples of scientific directions. It is shown that the evolution of scientific knowledge includes different stages of the life cycle of scientific disciplines, the degree of maturity of which correlates well with the Gartner curve. According to the author, the main attributes of the concept of "scientific direction" are its origins, key terms, scientific basis, boundaries, mechanism of formation and expected effect from the development of a scientific direction. The presence of these attributes in varying degrees of development allows us to assert a formed scientific direction, and the absence of at least one attribute speaks only of a fragmentary search for one's own path in science. For the qualification assessment of the developer of a scientific direction, confirmation of participation in the formation of a scientific direction is required, i.e. the researcher's personal experience and contribution to this direction. As an example, the scientific directions formed at the Samara University are considered, in particular, "Computer Optics" and "Ontology of Designing".