The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; Russian: Росси́йская акаде́мия нау́к (РАН) Rossíiskaya akadémiya naúk) consists of the national academy of Russia, a network of scientific research institutes from across the Russian Federation and additional scientific and social units such as libraries, publishing units, and hospitals. Headquartered in Moscow, the Academy is considered a civil, self-governed, non-commercial organisation chartered by the Government of Russia. The Academy currently includes about 500 institutions and 55 thousand scientific researchers.

Moscow’s “Golden Brain” building has become a landmark and it clearly shows the late Soviet Union’s commitment to science. The decision to erect this building was made in 1966 while the construction itself got started in 1974, spanning over a period of over 20 years. Architect Yury Platonov of GIPRONII’s chosen style for this extravagant building could be considered a crossover between Soviet modernism as well as semi-abstract monumental art. Academy members awarded with the Nobel prize include: Ivan Pavlov, Nikolai Semenov, Igor Tamm, Pavel Cherenkov, Ilya Frank, Lev Landau, Nikolai Basov, Alexander Prokhorov, Mikhail Sholokhov, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Leonid Kantorovich, Andrey Sakharov, Pyotr Kapitsa, Zhorez Alfyorov.