Searching for a cure: New independent commission to propose ways to reinvigorate research and innovation in France

A new high-level commission has been established in France to investigate the country’s research and innovation system, following the delivery of a critical report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and pressure from the science community.

In a joint statement, the Minister for the Economy, Arnaud Montebourg, Minister for Education, Benoît Hamon and State Secretary for Research, Geneviève Fioraso, announced the formation of the 20-strong body, the National Commission for the Evaluation of Innovation Policies (CNEPI).

"In a world that is moving very quickly, our system of education, research and innovation must adapt: it must be more responsive, more fluid to win the battle of knowledge, employment and competitiveness," Fioraso said. 

The OECD’s 294-page report, released at the end of June, says France’s innovation system, put in place during the 1950s - 1970s, and dominated by the state in a central management role and by large national research organisations, is too complex.

While the centrally-administered system served France well in the past, the context has gradually changed, said the OECD. A flexible approach is now needed, with the ability to change and reallocate resources rapidly, in response to scientific opportunities or demand.

The report also highlighted other major problems, including a lack of university partnerships with business, despite a huge increase in public funding in that direction, and continued support for underperforming businesses and universities.

CNEPI will be chaired by Jean Pisani-Ferry, an economist who is Commissioner-General at the Prime Minister’s policy planning unit. There is no timeline for delivery of proposals, nor have any evaluation indicators been made public, but Pisani-Ferry has said that he will, “adopt an organic approach to see what grows well and see what can be pruned.”

Innovation specialists and experts from government and local authorities make up the majority of CNEPI.

French scientists: a tale of dwindling opportunities

Even before the OECD report was published, French scientists have been calling for more funding. Their ire has been gradually building over the last few months, with a petition circulating and a large ‘March on Paris’ protest planned.

In particular, they are calling on the government to address the limited career paths in research. “Youth and employment [were] the two priorities of the candidate François Hollande [in the 2012 election],” said Michel Saint Jean, research director at the National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) in a blog posting. “In higher education and research, we will have neither one nor the other.”

French research universities, like Université Pierre et Marie Curie and Paris-Orsay, play a small role in public research, said the OECD. The rate at which new ideas leave the lab for the market is modest by international standards. As a result, French universities are weaker than their equivalents in other countries, explains the report.

On the other hand, research organisations, such as the National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) and the Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), are omnipotent, argues the OECD, with functions combining planning, funding, executing and evaluating roles.

Most other countries abandoned this model some time ago, if indeed they ever adopted it, because it affects the way the system works, making it very difficult for the political authorities to supervise, said the OECD.  

In response to universities’ meagre share of public research, the website Urgency of scientific employment, created by the National Committee for Scientific Research (CoNRS), sprung up two weeks ago.

It credits Amaya Moro-Martín, a Spanish astrophysician and spokesperson of the grassroots movement of Spanish scientists, Investigación Digna, as the cause’s main inspiration. Fed up with the lack of research opportunities in her own country, Moro-Martín packed her bags last year and wrote an open letter to the Spanish prime minister, complaining about a lack of support for researchers.

CoNRS is worried about a slowing down in PhD enrollments, an indication, it says, that young scientists are discouraged by poor job prospects. The government’s policy is almost exclusively about replacing retirees, its members add.

The main feature of the website is a petition calling for simplification of the whole research structure, funding for permanent research positions, and reform of the tax cuts allocated for research support. It has gathered more than 10,000 signatories, backing demands that the government immediately launches a long-term plan to create several thousand permanent scientific jobs, “To avoid sacrificing an entire generation of young scholars.”

Scientists’ anger is being funnelled towards the ‘March on Paris’, organised by researchers from the University of Montpellier, and taking place from 27 September to 19 October. Researchers from all over the country are being urged to cycle or walk separate stages, along a number of different routes, converging on the Elysée Palace. 

The OECD report provides support for the claim that France lags behind other strong research-focused countries in training doctoral students. Take away the country’s European Research Council (ERC) grant winners and the majority of researchers are less-skilled than counterparts in the UK, Germany and the Nordic countries, the report says.

Industry research: in need of a jolt too

It is not just the universities that are underperforming. In the field of corporate innovation, France also posts average returns, said the OECD. France has high-tech and well-performing industries like nuclear and aeronautics, but is slow to reach out to embrace cutting edge sectors like IT.

More imagination is needed. French research and innovation, “seems to be among the most inert in the world in terms of specialisation; the thematic distribution of publications has changed less than in the other countries since the early 2000s,” said the report. Business-university R&D pairings are relatively thin on the ground, as the chart shows.

Percentage of spending on higher education R&D that is financed by industry

While the rate of business start-up and survival is high, few research-performing businesses are growing in size. There is not enough funding for medium-sized companies, which receive virtually no help from the state. There’s also too much cash being spent on keeping companies with weak growth potential afloat, said the report. The venture capital scene is, “inadequate, as it is in other European countries,” the OECD added. 

Reforms not gone far enough

France introduced a wave of reforms during the past 20 years, most recently the 2008 law on Responsibility and Autonomy of Universities; the National Research and Innovation Strategy in 2009; and the Investments for the Future Programme, which allocated about €20 billion, mostly on a competitive basis, to research and innovation, transfers and entrepreneurship, in 2010.

“[France] emerged from these successive reforms and policy reorientations considerably transformed. Yet the changes are only partial, and the current system can be described as mixed – a hybrid between the old administered model and the new open model. This mix is unsatisfactory in many respects because the friction and segmentation it creates make the system less effective overall,” said the OECD.

Yet nestled among the weaknesses are some opportunities waiting to be properly exploited, the OECD finds. The money is there, with high levels of public procurement. But this needs to be put to better use to encourage more innovation.

Industries where France is strong, such as agri-foods, luxury goods and tourism, are growing and require a great deal of innovation, while R&D tax credits remain among the most generous in the world.