French academics fear a ¡°grim¡± future for the country¡¯s higher education and research under the country¡¯s new government, with insufficient funding expected as ministers grapple with a deficit now exceeding 6 per cent of gross domestic product.
President Emmanuel Macron announced his new Cabinet in September, reflecting a significant shift to the right after June¡¯s snap election produced a?hung parliament. Both the prime minister and the minister of higher education and research, Michel Barnier and Patrick Hetzel, now belong to the right-wing Les R¨¦publicains, succeeding Gabriel Attal of the centrist Renaissance party and independent Sylvie Retailleau.
Earlier this month, the government presented a 2025 budget that boosts funding for the Higher Education and Research Ministry by about €90?million (?75?million), an amount sector leaders say will fail to compensate for inflation. The budget also calls into question the promises of a 2020 law that pledged to inject a further €25?billion into research and development by 2030, academics have said.
¡°Everybody knows that France is not in very good shape in terms of budget,¡± said Martin Andler, an emeritus professor at the University of Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines and president of the Initiative for Science in Europe. ¡°It seems to be impossible to devote a bigger share to higher education and research.
¡°From that perspective, the overall situation is grim,¡± Professor Andler said. Amid cross-continental calls to double the budget for the next European Union research programme, meanwhile, he said he was ¡°not terribly positive¡± about France¡¯s potential contribution.
Boris Gralak, secretary general of the National Trade Union of Scientific Researchers, called the proposed budget ¡°catastrophic¡±, telling Times Higher Education: ¡°The position of higher education and research will decline in our country.¡±
Professor Retailleau, a former president of Paris-Sud University, was ¡°rather liked¡± within academia, Professor Andler said, but was ¡°basically unable to really improve the budgetary situation for universities and research¡±. Dr Gralak characterised the ministry under Professor Retailleau as open to dialogue with research stakeholders, despite continued underfunding. With only two years before the next presidential election, he said, ¡°there was not enough time for the ministry to do something new¡±.
Bruno Andreotti, a physics professor at Universit¨¦ Paris Cit¨¦, said policy to date under Mr Macron had been ¡°unremarkable¡±, continuing a ¡°trend of the past 20 years that has led to France¡¯s scientific and technical decline¡±. Professor Andreotti cited ¡°stagnant budgets amidst inflation, bureaucratisation and precaritisation¡± as ongoing issues.
While sector leaders have welcomed the continued existence of a dedicated Ministry for Higher Education and Research, some have raised concerns about the appointment of Mr Hetzel, who advocated the use of hydroxychloroquine during the Covid-19 pandemic and has proposed an inquiry into ¡°Islamo-leftist excesses¡± in universities.
Mr Hetzel played a central role in a 2007 law that aimed to grant greater financial autonomy to universities and prompted fears among students and academics of heightened inequality among institutions and a rise in elitism.
¡°It is not a good signal for us to have a minister of research who held such positions,¡± Dr Gralak said. Ahead of the one-year anniversary of the 7 October Hamas attack on Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza, Mr Hetzel had instructed universities to ¡°maintain order¡± and ¡°ensure respect for the principle of neutrality¡± amid potential student protests. ¡°For us, it is a signal that he would like to restrict the liberty of expression at universities,¡± said Dr Gralak.
Mr Barnier, meanwhile, has dangled plans to restrict migration to France, which Professor Andreotti said ¡°will likely [present] difficulties for laboratories and universities related to the reception of foreigners¡±.
