March being the month when French secondary students formally finalize their post-school plans, the time seems right to ask how things stand with the French system of higher education and research. Is it still attractive, effective and keeping pace with our society’s future needs? To address these questions, Emmanuel Basset examines first how France compares internationally in its levels of research investment. He goes on to stress the risk that the country may fall behind scientifically as a result of a worrying fall-off in its research funding, which is even more marked in the private than the public sector. He also shows that French research performance, while admittedly still within the global average range, points to the system weakening and already declining somewhat by comparison with other countries.
It has been the aim of a series of science policy reforms undertaken over the last 15 years or so to counteract this decline. Emmanuel Basset traces both the impact and also the limits (fragmented funding, lack of attractiveness, administrative complexity etc.) of these measures. As he sees it, if progress is to be made and the trend towards scientific decline reversed, three conditions must be met: the spiral of underinvestment must be halted and more funding must go to research (particularly in the private sector where investment lags behind); there must be further reorganization and simplification, strengthening the strategic culture (in the allocation of funds, co-operation, the assessment of results etc.); and the appeal of careers in research needs to be restored. The aim must be to produce a ‘culture shock’, Basset argues, to extend and improve on the reform efforts already begun and so avoid falling behind more irrevocably.
