
The available kinds of contests, a list of fields and areas in which contests are held, periods and methods for holding such contests as well as general principles for project funding are determined by the Board of the Foundation.

During 1992 through 2004, RFBR actively developed areas in which support was provided to Russias scientists on a competitive basis. If during 1993 through 1995 only 6-8 different kinds of contests were held, then by 2003 the number of different kinds of selection contests had reached 16 (see Table 1).
Table 1
Development of the System of Selection Contests of RFBR in 1993 through 2004
 |
1993 |
1994 |
1995 |
1996 |
1997 |
1998 |
1999 |
2000 |
2001 |
2002 |
2003 |
2004 |
1. Research projects submitted on the initiative of individual scientists |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
2. Creation and development of information, calculation and telecommunication resources to conduct basic research |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
3. Publication projects |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
4. Expeditions |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
5. Scientific events in Russia |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
6. Participation in foreign scientific events |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
7. Center for collective use |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
8. International contests |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
9. Support of equipment for scientific research |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
10. Support for scientific journals |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
11. Regional contests |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
12. Support for scientific libraries |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
13. Electronic libraries |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
14. Contest for popular scientific articles |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
15. Software for super computers |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
16. Contests for young scientists |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
17. Contests for analytical reviews |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
18. Innovation-oriented basic research contest |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
19. Goal - oriented basic researches |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |

For 12 years over 175,000 applications have been reviewed under all kinds of contests, out of which number over 95,000 were applications submitted on the initiative of individual scientists; over 70,000 projects have been supported, including over 32,000 projects submitted on the initiative of individual scientists.

An average amount of funding per project in relation to projects submitted on the initiative of individual scientists was about 200,000 Rubles in 2003.

In the implementation of projects supported by RFBR under all contests have taken part over 98,000 scientists (including over 75,000 scientists taking part in projects submitted on the initiative of individual scientists). In all, over 150,000 scientists and researchers have participated in the submission of applications, including over 120,000 participating in applications prepared on the initiative of independent scientists.

Scientists and researchers from over 4,000 organizations of Russia have interacted with RFBR.

Over 400,000 scientific papers have been published based on the results of work conducted, including 150,000 journal articles.