The uncertainty principle. Strategies for integrating young scientists from the regions into scientific careers and scientific communities in the context of the VUCA world

The article examines the key characteristics of young scientists’ integration into scientific communities in the context of the new prospects offered by the VUCA world. We see the VUCA world as a time of opportunities and a favorable period for young scientists to take initiatives, and also a world of total uncertainty, where impetuosity and uncertainty, as well as the constant search for and change of various strategies, become a key to successful career building and advancement. The empirical base of the analysis consists of 30 biographical interviews with young scientists from a city of regional significance, a young science city, a large city and a city of federal significance. The article puts forward a hypothesis about the importance of horizontal integration of young scientists into scientific communities in young cities and innovative cities, as well as in a large city and in a city of federal significance. The paper also discusses the role of the city as an actor that forms scientific communities and strategies for interaction and integration of young scientists with scientific communities. Special attention is paid to the meanings of scientific careers and the individual role of scientific communities in the careers of young scientists and also to the strategies for integrating young scientists into scientific careers. The authors consider changes in the configurations of strategies for both building a scientific career and integration into scientific communities at the local, national and global levels as new opportunities that arise for scientists in the VUCA world. The main conclusion of the article is that the integration and career building strategies in science are influenced by both the city and the orientation of the city, the local scientific community, which may differ depending on particular scientific disciplines. A successful strategy that allows one to use the potential and resources of the VUCA world to the maximum extent possible is the horizontal integration of young scientists.