Astonishment over Idex jury’s demands

Board members of PSL Research University, and partner institutions, have said that conditions for receiving funding from France’s Idex scheme are unreasonable and in some cases illegal, according to a leaked internal memo.

The Idex jury demanded that the PSL’s president be given greater powers, according to the document—a requirement that the university’s board members found unacceptable. Excerpts of the memo were published by the news website EducPros on 17 April.

In the memo, which was issued on 4 April, the board members said they feared “the emergence of a president with absolute power, who would bypass us to take all the decisions”. They added: “This is illegal and it’s incredible to see a jury make such recommendations.”