French Scientists Revolt Against Government Reforms

摘要

University lecturers and researchers in France began a national strike on 2 February over a draft decree that would change their job descriptions and procedures for promotion. The row has brought to a head simmering resentment among many researchers over ongoing broader reforms of research and higher education. It has been further fuelled by President Nicolas Sarkozy's criticisms of the country's researchers in a fiery speech last week. The government's decree seems, at first glance, fairly innocuous. For the first time, evaluations of university researchers will include their contributions to teaching and university governance, and not be based solely on their research. Universities will also be given the power to change how much time staff spend on teaching and research. So why has the decision provoked such a vocal and widespread outcry? One reason is that university researchers are used to being assessed nationally. The new policy, which is in line with the government's overall goal of giving universities greater autonomy, transfers that responsibility to the university president and board. Scientists fear that cash-strapped universities might cut research time and force them to do more teaching, at a time when posts are being cut. In an open letter co-authored by Albert Fert, a 2007 Nobel laureate in physics from the University of Paris-Sud, top academics last week expressed worries that the changes would give university administrators too much control over scientists' work, and risk "clientship and localism".