Department of History and Sociology of Science and Technology

The Department of History and Sociology of Science and Technology carries out a wide range of interdisciplinary research on the border of socio-humanitarian, natural science and technical disciplines, the use of which methods makes it possible not to be limited to the statement of scientific facts, but to reach the level of worldview generalizations and the significance of the results obtained for the development of society.

The work of the department is subordinated to the analysis and generalization of historical experience, patterns, trends, methodological and social problems of the development of Ukrainian science and the construction of an objective national history of Ukrainian science in the world context with the extensive use of the source base, the study and introduction into scientific circulation of new and half-forgotten names and facts, the study of the prognostic role of the history of science and technology. Among the areas of scientific topics of the department are also philosophy, methodology and sociology of science, in particular the development of science in crisis conditions; the attractiveness of the profession of a scientist; socio-cultural consequences and risks of the introduction of new technologies; problems of ethics and popularization of science, establishing a dialogue between science and society.

The mission of the department, as well as the social, economic and political significance of its research are due to the fact that in order to master the modern scientific picture of the world and understand the historical stages of its formation, that is, to form the worldview of a modern scientist, it is necessary to study the laws of the development of science and technology as an integral component of universal human culture. This is the subject of historical and scientific research, which, due to its interdisciplinary nature, is gaining special relevance today, allowing the scientist to see the entire complex of interconnected scientific directions and the place of his research in it, to overcome the contradictions of technical and humanitarian cultures, and on the basis of natural, technical and humanitarian knowledge to form a holistic, synthetic worldview of man, his proactive life position and strategic vision of the priorities of world development.

The history of the department dates back to 1963, when the Sector for the History of Natural Sciences and Technology was organized within the Institute of History of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR (headed by Academician Yosyp Shtokalo), which operated for 23 years. The traditions and experience accumulated by the Sector formed the basis of the activities of the Center for Scientific and Technical Potential and the Science History Studies (headed by G.M. Dobrov, now Institute), organized in 1986 on the basis of the Sector for the History of Natural Sciences and Technology of the Institute of History of the Academy of Sciences of the UkrSSR and the Center for Scientific and Technical Potential of the Council for the Study of the Productive Forces of Ukraine of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR.

The department purposefully popularizes the wide use of the history of science and technology in the educational process of secondary and higher schools, in the mass media, etc. This allows schoolchildren, students and postgraduates, specialists and the general public to understand the role of science, technology and education in solving global civilization problems, to get acquainted with the history of science and technology in Ukraine as a component of the world scientific sphere, which contributes to the formation of pride in the results of previous generations and the upbringing of patriotism.

The team of the department has developed an original comprehensive methodological interdisciplinary approach to reproducing the development of knowledge as the history of the genesis, formation and evolution of its key ideas, theories, discoveries and laws, on which the periodization of the development of science is based. A chronological approach has also been developed, i.e. covering the history of science through annotated key events and facts, accompanied by references to sources. This was reflected in major scientific works, in particular in the collective monographs “National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. 1908-2018. Chronology” (to the 100th anniversary of the NAS of Ukraine, 2nd edition, 2018) and “History of Rocket and Space Science and Technology of Ukraine” (2021), monographs by Yu.O. Khramov “Physics. History of Fundamental Ideas, Theories and Discoveries” (2015) and “Historical Physics. Ukraine in World and Socio-Political Contexts (XVII–XX Centuries)” (2020).

It is important that the history of Ukrainian science is considered in the world scientific, cultural-historical and socio-political contexts. The history of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, the formation and development of scientific and scientific-technical schools in Ukraine (based on the developed original model of a scientific school), historical biographical studies of scientists and organizers of science (monographs “Foreign scientists-originators from Ukraine in the field of fundamental and technical sciences” (2017), and “National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. 1918–2018. Personnel”).

The department also actively promotes the popularization of the history of science in Ukraine and the world, in particular the inclusion of historical and scientific courses in the educational process of universities; holds annual conferences of young historians of science, technology and education, which are important for the formation of a broad scientific worldview of specialists, their patriotic upbringing and fundamentalization of education, and trains scientific and teaching staff in the history of science and technology. The methodology of the department's research programs also includes interviews with leading scientists and their sociological surveys, the results of which are used in scientific research, teaching practice, and the preparation of scientific and analytical reports and notes.

The department is also developing such a direction as philosophy, methodology, and sociology of science. In recent years, the department's specialists have analyzed the problems of the attractiveness of the scientific profession; socio-cultural consequences and risks of introducing new technologies; issues of scientific ethics and popularization of science, establishing a dialogue between science and society; methodological and praxeological features of program-targeted scientific research.

The conducted research has both theoretical significance, which has been covered in scientific publications, and practical value. The social and political orientation of the results of scientific research was presented in analytical and report notes to state authorities. The documents provided specific recommendations on ways to increase the attractiveness of the scientific profession, to form a positive attitude of Ukrainian society towards science, to form a research culture. Recommendations were also given on the organization of the educational process of masters and the formation of future specialists' ability to creative thinking, a tendency to criticism and self-criticism, responsibility for the consequences of their scientific activities before the scientific community and society, strict adherence to the principles of scientific ethos and scientific ethics, and the development of supra-professional competencies (soft skills) that are necessary for working in the realities of the modern scientific sphere. The unit studies epistemological and socio-cultural problems of assessing scientific knowledge. This study aims to create a concept of integrated assessment of scientific knowledge, taking into account disciplinary and interdisciplinary features and structural specifics of the division of research into fundamental, applied, targeted, which would take into account cognitive and socio-cultural requirements for scientific knowledge, societal demands, practices, and harmonize the logic and praxeology of the development of science. An analysis is made of the features of the assessment of scientific knowledge of the non-classical period of the development of science, determining the influence of socio-cultural and contextual components on these processes. In the context of this problem, the practices of implementing internal education quality assurance systems in higher education institutions of Ukraine and the activities of institutions for assessing the quality of higher education - the production of new scientific knowledge are analyzed. Given the conditions of martial law, the subject matter of the department was adjusted in the direction of studying the impact of the war on the scientific sphere of Ukraine. It is proven that despite the significant losses caused by the war, both directly by the institutes of the NAS of Ukraine and by Ukrainian society as a whole, numerous challenges, including the weakening of the human resource potential and ties between the scientific and industrial spheres, the destruction of a significant part of the scientific infrastructure, a significant reduction in financial and resource support and international scientific cooperation, the high pace of reorientation of a significant part of scientific research in the interests of defense and security of the state and the development of strategic sectors of the economy, science continues to work and tries to increase its participation in assisting the army and the defense industry. The relevance of the department's work is determined by the fact that in the conditions of hybrid challenges, the opinion of professionals needs to be published and disseminated in society as soon as possible in order to contribute to the formation of worldview guidelines in it. The vision of scientists and the analysis of current scientific results and approaches by the expert environment are important for society and actualize the popularization of scientific activity.

Issues related to the social function of science during times of crisis and problems associated with the so-called "post-truth situation" and its impact on humanitarian security were added.

Official request to the institution's management.