Formation and development of scientific schools of informatics in Ukraine (1960s–1970s): biographical, historical and scientific analysis

Abstract

The article is devoted to the historical-scientific and biographical analysis of the formation and development of scientific schools of informatics in Ukraine in the 1960s–1970s and contributes to the historiography of informatics by systematizing biographical trajectories within the framework of the early academic schools. The study traces the prerequisites for the emergence of informatics as a science: the influence of cybernetics, the role of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR and the V.M. Glushkov Institute of Cybernetics, as well as the international context of integrating Soviet and Western scientific traditions. Special attention is paid to the biographies and scientific heritage of leading scholars (V.M. Glushkov, O.M. Kostovsky, V.L. Rvachov, O.A. Volkov, V.O. Plotnikov), who became leaders of local research centers in Kyiv, Lviv, Kharkiv, and Odesa. The concepts of “scientific school,” “biographistics” and “scientific heritage” are defined as key analytical categories that make it possible to investigate mechanisms of knowledge transfer, academic succession, organization of research, and development of thematic areas. It is shown that Ukrainian scientific schools of informatics had different priorities: from algorithmization and computational mathematics to systems programming, automated control systems, and information technologies for education and industry. A central role in shaping the discipline belonged to the Kyiv school of cybernetics under the leadership of V.M. Glushkov, which combined a high level of theoretical research with large-scale applied developments of electronic computing machines and management systems. At the same time, significant contributions were made by regional schools: the Lviv school (O.M. Kostovsky), the Kharkiv school (V.L. Rvachov, O.A. Volkov, and others), and the Odesa school (V.O. Plotnikov), which ensured the training of specialists and the introduction of innovative methods in various fields. It is proven that the biographical approach is an effective tool for reconstructing the history of informatics, as it makes it possible to take into account personal and succession factors in the development of science. The study concludes that the network of scientific schools of informatics in Ukraine became the foundation of the modern IT sector and remains an important object for further comparative research in the global context.