The reduction in the total numbers of scientists in Russia has been accompanied by negative changes in the age structure of science cadres. According to data of the Center for Research and Statistics of Science, in 1995, the ratio of specialists of the older age cohort (above the age of sixty) and the younger age cohort (up to the age of forty) stood at 0.41; in 2000 it had risen to 0.90, and in 2005 it is estimated to rise to 1.21. It is not just that science cadres are getting older; at stake is the ability of Russia's science community to reproduce itself and, even more important, the possibility of reproducing the sociocultural type of Russian scientists. These issues were the focus of studies that were carried out in two parts, in April 2001 and then in November and December 2004. Participants in the first study were students in the fourth year of study in the faculties of computer mathematics and cybernetics, chemistry, physics, and mechanical mathematics, as well as third-year students in the faculty of state administration at Moscow M.V. Lomonosov State University, a total of 182 respondents. The second study was participated in by students in those faculties as well as in the faculty of sociology, a total of 231. The purpose of the surveys was to determine college students' attitudes toward science and scientific work and to estimate the prospects of recruiting Moscow State University graduates to work in science. The data obtained, which is presented in this article, enabled the authors to establish the dynamics and tendencies that require serious analysis, first and foremost by bodies of state administration of science and education. (Contains 3 tables and 1 note.)