Laurent Cousin
The president of the French Académie des Sciences has issued recommendations to make research careers more attractive.
Jules Hoffman, president of the French Académie des Sciences, recently handed in his report to Valérie Pécresse, Minister of Higher Education and Research, his report on attracting young people to careers in research. He recommends that the doctoral and post-doctoral years should be taken into account when recruiting young researchers, particularly as regards their remuneration.
The report recommends increasing researcher remuneration to make it consistent with other state functions and that practiced in countries competing with France. Two different modes of increasing salaries can be used to achieve this objective:
- the statutory aspect: take into account the years researching and writing a dissertation, accelerate changes in rank;
- bonuses: double the amount of the bonus for doctoral and research supervision (PEDR), increase the number of beneficiaries.
Jules Hoffman also suggests improving researchers' working environment, particularly by simplifying administrative procedures, reducing teaching duties and fostering research staff mobility between universities and research institutes, particularly via promotions.
The report is available on the Ministry of Higher Education and Research website.