The Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences (ANAS), the highest scientific institution in the Azerbaijan Republic, was founded in 1945 from the Azerbaijan Branch of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. Its chief aim is to develop fundamental research in the leading fields of natural, technological and social sciences.
The ANAS is composed of five scientific departments: the Physical, Mathematical and Technical Sciences Department; the Chemical Sciences Department; the Earth Sciences Department; the Biological Sciences Department; the Public and Humanitarian Sciences Department.
Thirty-four scientific research establishments are active within the ANAS, including 30 Institutes. ANAS also includes three regional scientific centres, ten construction technology organizations, and two experimental factories. A series of scientific, technological and innovative organizations have been created to introduce the results of scientific research into the national economy. As a result of working out fundamental and technological problems, more than 100 items are brought into production each year, providing a substantial economic impact.
The ANAS plays a leading role in undertaking fundamental research, creating new technologies and methodologies, and training highly qualified experts. A series of scientific results having international significance have been obtained within the ANAS in various major fields of science. These include the physics of solid bodies and of semiconductors, mathematics and mechanics, petrochemistry, oil refining, the scientific basis for developing oil and gas fields, multidisciplinary studies of crustal geology, and the scientific basis for improving the productivity of arable and livestock farms. Important results have been obtained in the study and rational use of the natural resources of the Republic, and in the study of ancient history, culture and literature of the Azerbaijan people.
Scientific establishments within the ANAS are currently conducting research into around 500 scientific projects, aimed at solving 130 scientific problems. The Academy has established international links with different scientific organizations throughout the world such as CRDF, INTAS, UNESCO, NATO, the Royal Society of the United Kingdom, many universities in Turkey, France, Germany and other countries.