Russian academy of sciences as social institution and human community

Drawing on the archives, human documents and on the author’s inclusive observations in various sociocultural milieus of Russian and international intellectual community in the 1968-2018, the article analyzes the relationships in Russian Academy of Sciences (Academy of Sciences of the USSR and RAS) as social institution and human community. Development of structural-functional organization of academic community, its dependence on an evolution of Russian society, and new challenges to the RAS created by digital revolution are considered. The author states that this institute has not yet define its attitude toward digital revolution and its social consequences. He believes that a mobilization of intellectual potential of the RAS, the maintenance of international contacts, a decisive turn to interdisciplinary methods of analysis, and protection of humanistic stand inherent to Russian science throughout its history are the main challenges to the RAS.