The key factors taken into account when RAS Professors are elected include recognized scientific results and records of publications in peer-reviewed journals, along with the candidate's authoring books and patents, advising PhD works etc.

Apart from the recommendation and the age constraint, the requirements are similar, though not identical, to those imposed by the Higher Attestation Commission in Russia for the traditional (i.e. not RAS) professor rank.

The community of RAS Professors works under the auspices of the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Science and under the administrative guidance of its Center for Strategic Planning.

A Coordination Council[1] was formed bringing together renown Professors; in 2016-2018 Prof. Alexey A. Gromyko, Director of the Institute of Europe and the grandson of the outstanding Soviet diplomat Andrei Gromyko, served as the Council Chairman,[9] succeeded, since April 2018, by Prof. Alexander A. Lutovinov, Vice-director of the Russian Space Research Institute.

It remains to be seen how helpful the rank will be to its holders in obtaining promotions in and outside of their institutions, while the work in the community of RAS Professors is performed on a voluntary basis.

RAS Professors make no formal commitment to perform any duties unrelated to their original employment, but the new rank is widely seen[9] as an opportunity to get involved in debates on key problems of national science, to participate in shaping the future of the Academy, to contribute to the federal level decision-making, and to engage with mass media covering research, technology, and global development.