1970's Russian Physics

[proudofthefish]

I am working on a background for a new RPG character. I have some flexibility in dates, but I am a bit confused and am trying to map everything out. My character is a female scientist who specializes in plasma physics. Her power armor is powered by a Tokamak Reactor. I would like her to have studied under or been mentored by Lev Artsimovich who

Comments

[brune_hilda]

Yes, it's a big problem to make correspondance between the West and Soviet education system.
Shortly we had
1. Secondary school - 8 or 10 (then 9 or 11 years)
2. after 8 (9) years a person could go to the something like college where he/she got secondary and professional education. Of course this kind of education could be got after the secondary one (10 or 11 years). These were professions like nurse, hairdresser, locksmith etc.
3.High education. There were institutes and universities. The difference between them depended on the quantities of qualifications they let get. For examples, if educational establishment qualifies physics only it's titled Institute, but if some law or byology faculty is added the establishment became the University.
Every University had Research Institutes for its faculties. For example the Faculty of Physics of the StP State University (former Leningradsky State University) has several Research Institutes - Radiphysics, Nuclear Physics etc.
All reseach institutes had abbreviation "НИИ" (SRI - Science Research Institute) in their names and they made only research not gave the high education.

Hope this helps :)

[jgofri]

>>Yes, it's a big problem to make correspondance between the West and Soviet education system.
>>Shortly we had
>>1. Secondary school - 8 or 10 (then 9 or 11 years)
wasn't it 7 back then? Rather then 8?

>>2. after 8 (9) years a person could go to the something like college where he/she got secondary and professional education. Of course this kind of education could be got after the secondary one (10 or 11 years). These were professions like nurse, hairdresser, locksmith etc.
I think in the closest thing they have in the US is the vocational school. Or had, having never encountered one I am not sure. But basically it would be like a high school plus vocational training plus some college-level classes, close to the Associate degree. If you went to college after graduating from one, you would be allowed to skip couple of years.

[brune_hilda]

There were too many changes that period. For example my mother (was born in 1946) had 11 years program and her sister (was born in 1944) - 10 years program.

I haven't got a lot of information about US educational structure. So I think you are right:)

[jgofri]

But didn't that change applied to the number of years in high school? I thought the obligatory grades were still 1-7. I could be wrong, of course.

Vocational school is something I keep reading about, but never met anyone who went there in the recent 10 or so years, so I am thinking it might be extinct :)

[brune_hilda]

I'm not sure, I'll ask my mother:)
Anyway, the secondary education was obligatory, so 10 or 11 years of education were mandatory anywhere they were provided in a school or in a 'college'.
Those who went to work just after 7 or 8 or 9 years of school had to finish their education in a 'evening school' (after or before a work depending on labour hours).

[jgofri]

Actually, I don't think that it was back then, past grade 7. You could start working right after 7-th grade, not that you'd have many exciting career opportunities. For instance, you could become turner's apprentice.
That, of course, is a moot point, because becoming a turner's apprentice and then taking high school diploma exams seems like an unnecessarily scenic route to becoming a phisicist :)))
Also, are you sure about the 11 years? My Mom seems to remember 9 becoming 10, but not 11. When did it go back to 10, then?

[brune_hilda]

Yes, you could, but you had to visit the 'evening school' to finish a secondary education.

Yes, I'm sure about 11 years. The soviet post war secondary education had several points of changes.

[ldymusyc]

Nope, they're not extinct yet. My local school system still has one! It's called a "career and tech" school now.

[jgofri]

Thanks! I know it's a little thing, but somehow it has always been bothering me not to know :)