Misère de la recherche en France. Pour une politique de la science et de la technologie : voies et moyens à la mesure des nouveaux enjeux

Jean-Jacques Salomon energetically castigates the contempt for scientific research in France; he criticizes the lack of resources and the dangers that this will incur in the medium and long term. But he goes further and proposes a proper plan to give a new impetus to research, development and innovation, emphasizing that it is not enough to allocate more money – the whole structure of research needs fundamental reform, as indeed does the French model of education. Those in government care little for research, he argues, even though it has become ever more important in planning for the future. First, research needs a genuine injection of money, and Jean-Jacques Salomon proposes ways in which the necessary funding could be achieved. But it is also essential to tackle the institutional and structural problems that beset a system that is in large part badly designed for today’s needs. The author distinguishes two complementary types of research (i.e. basic and applied), and shows that it is essential to overhaul the organization and the manner of funding and managing research. He argues forcefully in favour of a “national science foundation” and, incidentally, for a closer integration of research and the universities. In this vein, he would like to see a thorough transformation of the French education system, with a clearer separation of vocational training – which needs to be upgraded – from higher education and research, which should be encouraged… Scattered through his text are recommendations that are particularly welcome in this long troubled period for the French system of research and innovation, and he starts a debate that will be continued in future issues of Futuribles.