Report recommends overhaul of French research

Government-commissioned report promotes widescale reforms aimed at implementing clearer national research strategy

A report commissioned by the French government earlier this year has recommended sweeping reforms to ensure that France has a coherent national research strategy.

The report, written by Philippe Gillet, a geophysicist and former vice-president of the Federal Polytechnic School of Lausanne, laments France’s “lost leadership” on the world stage in key areas, such as synthetic biology. It highlights a “lack of consolidated vision” and “static, unplanned national research strategy”, and presents 14 recommendations to correct this.