paris

Prime minister Lionel Jospin launched a national consultation on the organization of French research last week. He has commissioned the exercise after earlier reform plans by science minister Claude Allègre stalled in the face of opposition from the research community.

A parliamentary mission will culminate in a national debate in Paris in June, and is expected to present Jospin with “concrete proposals” the following month. The mission is led by two socialist members of the national assembly, Pierre Cohen (Haute-Garonne) and Jean-Yves Le Deaut (Meurthe-et-Moselle), a former head of the Parliamentary Office of Scientific and Technological Choices.

Tension over Allègre's plans is still running high (see Nature 397, 463; 1999). The main unions representing scientists suspect that the ministry may simply pay lip service to the outcome of the consultation — Allègre had previously rejected demands by researchers for a national public debate.

Last week the unions called on researchers to support a national day of protest on 11 May, to secure a commitment from the government that no reforms would be undertaken before the end of the consultation. In particular, they are demanding the postponement of an interministerial meeting on research due to be held on 18 May. They argue that the decision not to defer this meeting suggests that the ministry is likely to to ignore the consultation and push ahead with its own reform plans.

But Vincent Courtillot, director-general of research at the ministry, dismisses such concerns. He claims that the interministerial meeting will deal only with strategic research themes and industrial research.

“The CIRST [conseil interministériel sur la recherche scientifique et technologique] will not be centred on the items included in the parliamentary mission, though it is likely to mention that actions on helping young researchers and promoting scientific mobility will be taken after the Cohen-Le Deaut report has been submitted,” says Courtillot.

Similarly, Le Deaut says that he would not have accepted the mission had he felt it was a tactic by the government to defuse opposition. He says he has assurances that Jospin will take the outcome seriously and that it will not “gather dust in a drawer”.

The mission is being assisted by a steering committee of more than 20 researchers and industrialists, including former science minister Hubert Curien and Philippe Desmarescaux, director-general of Rhône-Poulenc.

In a break with tradition, the committee also includes several young scientists. Finding ways to give young scientists greater independence is one of the five stated goals of the mission, and the theme of a debate in Paris on 9 June.

The others goals are to propose ways of increasing the mobility of researchers; to improve links between research agencies and universities; and to analyse procedures for recruitment and evaluation.

In hearings being held over the next few weeks, the mission will consult about 100 leading research figures, while wider input will be sought using an Internet forum (see http://www.mission-cohen-ledeaut.org). A series of public meetings in various French cities is also to be organized.