Since last year, at the initiative of the Ministry of Science and Education, up to 150 scientists have been receiving awards of 1,000 manats per month in order to increase the number of articles published in journals with a high impact factor, stimulate scientific research and objectively assess the quality of scientists' activities. This year, as part of the program developed jointly with specialists from the Clarivate company, 300 scientists will be awarded.

As the AzEdu.az Educational Portal, we contacted Ulkar Ibrahimova, PhD in Biology, a leading researcher at the Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnologies of the Ministry of Science and Education, who was among the laureates of the award and discussed the decision.

- Ulker khanym, we congratulate you on being included in the list of scientists awarded for their contribution to science. What do you think are the advantages of introducing the new reward mechanism?

- Thank you for your congratulations.

 I would like to say that this initiative put forward by the Ministry of Science and Education was unexpected for us. For the last 5-6 years, I have been strengthening international cooperation, establishing contacts with scientists, and writing various innovative articles. Of course, each of these events happened on my own initiative. I was first invited to the Agricultural University of Slovakia 5 years ago. After working at the university, my contacts expanded even more. While there, I saw which research articles were rewarded and which salary bonuses were added to them. To be honest, at that time, these were just dreams for me. However, I continued to work on myself, writing articles about my results in Slovakia. As the articles were published, I became known in this field and began to receive many invitations. Thus, the foundation of my success was laid.

I appreciate the nomination of a number of scientists for monthly cash prizes. Since this selection takes into account the citation rates of scientific papers in a given field in the Scopus and Web of Science databases; publication of scientific papers in journals of the Q1 and Q2 quartiles; being in the list of 10% of the most read scientific papers in the world; the number of co-authors.

The benefits of the initiative to increase the number of awarded scientists are already obvious. From my observations, I can say that after this decision, young researchers have become even more motivated. Perhaps, if earlier they approached the publication of articles simply with the thought that “one article a year is enough”, now they try to write articles for self-development and publish them in international journals. In my opinion, an increase in the number of scientists who will occasionally receive a salary supplement in the form of awards will affect the increase in the number of interesting studies. After the award, I think that if there is effort, it is definitely rewarded. This is a great motivation!

- What do you think, to what extent will the financial support of up to 1000 manats intended for scientists play a role in your scientific work?

- In October-December, I went on a scientific trip to the Agricultural University of China. First, I attended a symposium on photosynthesis. The management of our institute asked the Ministry of Science and Education to cover my travel expenses. My expenses in China will be covered by our institute. True, I was paid, but it was a very small amount, not quite enough to cover my expenses. Therefore, I spent the entire prize I received on my scientific work. Of course, I was happy to take this step. I certainly did not think that this prize was my personal money, etc. During my stay in China, my professor and I published our third joint article in a journal belonging to the "Q1" quartile. For this activity, I was awarded the certificate of "Honorary Professor" from that university. I returned to Azerbaijan with high results. I have potential articles ready, I am thinking about new ideas, and strengthening cooperation. I think that if we, the researchers, use the prize received by us to expand our scientific activity, we will achieve greater success.

-  Do you think that the age criterion should be used when awarding scientists?

- Activity is the basis for awarding. I don't think there should be an age criterion here. Young people are often full of enthusiasm and energy. However, articles do not have only 1, 2, or 3 authors. I wrote my article in co-authorship with many foreign employees. One of our authors is more than 60 years old, but he is a very famous person in the world. Therefore, I believe that there is no need for an age criterion. Facts and results are more important. If there is an article, if there is quality, if there is a quantity of cited articles, and if there is a quality of the journal, then age restriction is not required.