The French Ministry of higher education and research has released 29 indicators. 24th is dedicated to researchers' job market and 25th to PhD candidates.
The 24th indicator of this "State of higher education and research" focuses on "human resources or Research and development". In 2005:
- Companies employed 109,000 researchers (full time equivalent, "ETP"), 34% more than in 2000.
- Four industrial sectors concentrated half of these researchers: materials and electronic components, car industry, computer services and Pharmacy.
-With 7.4 researchers per 1,000 workers, France ranked behind United States and Jpan (and most of all Finland and Sweden) but in front of Germany and United Kingdom.
Titled "PhD candidates registered with university", the 25th chapter of the report gives the most recent key figures about doctorate. In 2005 :
- 70,000 PhD candidates were registered (+15% since 2000)
- 9,600 PhD theses were defended
- 57% of PhD candidates were funded through different kind of studentships.
Source: L'état de l'enseignement supérieur et de la recherche, n°1 – Novembre 2007, Ministère de l'Enseignement supérieur et de la recherche, Direction de l'évaluation, de la prospective et de la performance.