SELECTION AND TRAINING OF UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN FIELDS OF METALLURGY AND CHEMISTRY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000500040142-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 17, 2010
• Sequence Number: 142
• Publication Date: May 8, 1953
• Content Type: REPORT

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DEC 1951
U.S. Officials Only
CONFIDENTIAL
SECURITY INFORMATION
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
INFORMATION REPORT
COUNTRY USSR
SUBJECT Selection and Training of University Students in
Fields of Metallurgy and Chemistry
DATE DISTR.
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SUPP. TO
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION REPORT NO.
The universities in the USSR have entrance examinations which cover gytttla= .um
level work, and in addition have one section devoted to political quarisr. A
screening board consisting of Communist Party faculty members examines each
candidate also for political orientation primnr:l.y, and secondarily for other
qualities such as aptit>.jde, character, and the other _harac:t.eri&,1cs of comiro o
concern to universities the world over. Scholastic ability is secondary to
political reliability. F Kam omol. member has a better chance of acc.ept:anc_ SIi%n a
non-member, but E. Komsomol member with a bourgeois background might be. di.scrimirt?'ei
against in favor of a candidate vii th a peasant background.. The e; or.om"_ et ar,u
of a candidate has littlle or no bearing. Many scholarships of varying !v.ze are
I
available for political
eliables, and. o_caeionally for purr scholar=. A .. .a fen
n
has a relatively free ha
d in choosing a university.
engineering schools
deetnphasize the political written r:xamiriation
while still having a rig
d screening board. This presumption is based on the f+.ct
that technical personnel
~
traditionally are politically disinterested and are tit
a premium.
U.S. Officials Only
COlIFIDFM TAL
SECURITY INFORMATION
DII
STRIOUTION CIO STAT,; ARMY
T
NAVY A e ~I nn (: ~~~ I -1
This report Is for the use within thel
USA of the Intelligence components of the Departments or
Agencies indicated above. It is not I
to be transmitted overseas without the concurrence of the
originating olilce through the Assista
nt Director of the Office of Collection and Dissemination. CIA.
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CONF33=IAL/US OFFICIALS ONLY/SECURITY INFORMATION
tiem are usually translations of the beat foreign books, with actual source
unmentioned. Choices for translation are very good. In fields of chemistry
physics there are some original works due mainly to the immense effort spent
those fiel on M111tain ch. Original Russian texts are accurate but
superficial Translations of foreign sources are filled vi
translation 46100* ?il1uetratilas are well reproduced.
comparable in quality and quantity toother foreign texts. Sources of informa?.
editions are brought out regularly. Quality of texts as regar._ paper and bi=ding
printed in 1938 in Moscow, priced at 2 rubes, 75 kopers. The most expensive
:textbooks seldom run over 10'rubles (1944). Most editions are limited and new
lox. As an example, a bound textbook on metalltL gy, 50X1-H U M
which a university is located has a direct bearing on quality of education die
Soviet practise of much on-the-job training of engineering students. Univers7
in industrial areas profit. Sntree to industry is ready as much technical adj.
is contracted for with universities.
a_d
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hose
on
from the university, perhaps in a technical high school. Individual instruct
is available and it is up to the student to-arrange a private deal with an
instructor. Professors are theoretically accessible to students by reguletio
seeking a doctorate degree are called asrirants, and they sometimes teach awa
and study periods. Mechanical or visual training aids in general engineering
physics-or chemistry laboratories are scarce. Professors or laboratory
instructors have more demonstration assistants, however, than their US counye
parts. .Graduate students do not exist s such, and advanced degree candidate
are responsible more to a professor than to the university. They are not use
for teaching purposes but sometimes are employed as laboratory technicians.
Classes are crowded ',due to a shortage of competent teachers, and the emphasis
,B ft" on technical training. with the resulting increase in enrollment. Hours
instruction are longer than in comparable US institutions, due o the usual
so so. to pans. In praotiue, professors and instructors never severely grade
papers of political reliable, for fear of dismissal.
ties
icel
Political reliability is a crutch that oaablee some poor students to be upgreu/e'i
a fined As?= is given depending on the 'whim of the professor. A final course
examination is given at t;he.end of the jschool year. No sliding scale is used
grading, and the equivalent of a mvR ic;al 70 out of 100 is required to pass.
Written, oral and laboratory report type a4us are used. Engineering and
sr plR courses are usually divided into lectures, samimars, and laboratory
Hven the most prominent- Soviet acid tints devote two or three hour,, per wuak
to undergraduate lectures. Such lectures are in reality university lectures,
CONFI I6j./Ub OFFICIALS ONLY/S& URITY INFORMATION
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three to five professors conduct oral exertion.
the individual.--.Those Students seeking a master's degree eaudidnte), do-research
it.,:: -their thesis and write conclusions over one-school year. No courses are,
required. Certain engineering theses require on2y one-semester'E+ work,-depending
on the topic.- Aspirants for a doctorate degree apply for the privilege -to
Ministry of, Edneation. ? If accepted astanueaptrsnis'~,. the-- student is eissigsied to
university-for his research- nd?is paid. Same aspirants spend'-as long as'fivc+ years
doing research; vriting'a thesis, and preparing for'oral examination: -A-'board of?
'all WfO choose may atzena. rroressors choose their own personal assistants.
Their supervision over undergraduate research is complete. Over graduate research
,only the aypervision of the type research that-the student has personally chosen
is given. Naturally, if the field, is absurd a.professor would do -his best to deter
There is no credit hour system, 50X1-HUM
courses successfully passed count alone: For idvanbed degrees, when a student
feels he is ready to be examined he takes the exam.
the requirements-at the University of Riga were-slightly higher than'..
those in'tie USSR universities. I happen to have an outline of the program leading
Training-is slanted towards military requirements and heavy industry.
All graduates are at the command of the various Soviet ministries, who assign them'
according: to needs. Those who-aspire to teach have a certain amount of latitude,
CONFIDENTIAL/US OFFICIALS ONLY/SECURITY INFORMATION
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of study in Depart:.lent of .:zr:cc cy,:aculty of C,ea.:istry,t.ie i niversit;;
of -.atvia, 1a,Latvia.
Cnly applicants wit--1 full :Zii.hschool (certificate of .aturity)
t:erc- =dni `~ted to ho ? niver?s:,.ty. the ::iin_ n um per 1Jd of study vas 5 ears
(l. r-c:u'nter3).i.ftor co pf].etin1 the coL.rsec cntionec. below and after
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