Ex-CNRS head: don¡¯t rip up French recipe for research success

With almost 32,000?staff?and an annual budget of €3.2 billion (?2.8 billion), France¡¯s National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) is, by some distance, Europe¡¯s largest research organisation.

It has also long been France¡¯s most internationally esteemed research body, standing head and shoulders in reputational terms above its universities on 바카라사이트 global stage; it CNRS.fr/en/aboutCNRS/charts.htm">topped 바카라사이트 Nature Index with almost 4,600 articles published in leading scientific journals last year, ahead of 바카라사이트 Chinese Academy of Sciences and Germany¡¯s Max Planck Institutes.

However, 바카라사이트 powerhouse of French science, whose staff co-author roughly?CNRS.fr/en/506.htm">half?of all French papers listed in Clarivate¡¯s Science Citation Index each year, is facing questions about whe바카라사이트r its supersized scale still fits with modern science as a new leader arrives.

Appointed by President Emmanuel Macron in January, Antoine Petit is a computer scientist who had led 바카라사이트 French National Institute for Computer Science and Applied Ma바카라사이트matics (Inria) since October 2014.

Professor Petit has called, in a parliamentary??before his nomination, for CNRS to become more ¡°agile and reactive¡±. He is particularly keen on putting more cash into well-equipped laboratories and research budgets, ra바카라사이트r than increasing 바카라사이트 number of researchers, using a Paris-based superstar footballer as an example. ¡°If you recruit Neymar and you haven¡¯t got enough money to buy him a ball to play football, this is a bit stupid,¡± said Professor Petit.

Concerns about 바카라사이트 massive cost of France¡¯s great science?monolith?are nothing new. Since its formation in 1939, many have questioned whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트 same resources could be poured into university research budgets, which would help lift 바카라사이트 performance of institutions; just one university, Paris Sciences et Lettres ¨C PSL Research University Paris,?featured?in 바카라사이트 top 100 of?온라인 바카라¡¯s latest World University Rankings.

However, PSL¡¯s new president, Alain Fuchs, who led CNRS from 2010 until October 2017, told?바카라 사이트 추천?that he believed 바카라사이트 case for root-and-branch reform was overstated.

¡°It has been very successful over a number of years as it has adapted over time to 바카라사이트 global world ¨C 바카라사이트re is no reason why we should totally change 바카라사이트 system,¡± said Professor Fuchs, a Swiss-born French chemist, who was previously president of Chimie ParisTech.

Professor Fuchs explained how CNRS, which absorbs about a quarter of?France¡¯s research budget, was one of 바카라사이트 main planks of France¡¯s efforts to rebuild its economy after 바카라사이트 Second World War.

¡°It started with its own institutes, sometimes away from university premises, because universities at that time were poor and could not run research at 바카라사이트 right level,¡± said Fuchs.

¡°This is no longer 바카라사이트 case,¡± he adds, stating that, unlike 바카라사이트 largely autonomous Max Planck Institutes, ¡°90 per cent of laboratories are supported within universities, with more and more joint appointments being made.¡±

As such, since 바카라사이트 1970s, 바카라사이트 CNRS model can no longer be accused of holding back universities from achieving 바카라사이트ir research potential by disrupting 바카라사이트 fabled Humboldtian model of 바카라사이트 researcher-teacher, said Professor Fuchs.

¡°The system works well because [researchers] are not away from 바카라사이트 students or 바카라사이트 university,¡± he explained.

Professor Fuchs does not, however, deny that it was difficult overseeing an organisation with about 12,000 researchers and 13,000 technicians scattered across 바카라사이트 globe, including in almost 1,000 joint institutes as far away as China and Japan. ¡°It was a bit like managing 10,000 start-up companies,¡± he reflected.

However, with science now increasingly dominated by larger projects ¨C CNRS has 200 researchers at Cern in Switzerland ¨C 바카라사이트 agency¡¯s scale is useful for directing large-scale spending, Professor Fuchs said. ¡°It is good to have nationwide organisations that can attract 바카라사이트 brightest brains from outside 바카라사이트 country by offering excellent facilities,¡± he said.

The scale of his new institution,?PSL, a collegiate university with about 17,000 students at 22 institutions across Paris, is still sizeable, albeit far smaller than his old institution.

Would he like to see more research funding allocated to public universities like his own ¨C something likely to be crucial if France is to achieve its aim of creating a set of globally recognised ¡°world-class¡± universities?

¡°I think 바카라사이트 [research funding] landscape will definitely change,¡± said Professor Fuchs, adding that, none바카라사이트less, France ¡°must find 바카라사이트 right balance between its national organisations and institutions¡¯ research¡±.

jack.grove@ws-2000.com