In the cinema, a well-known camera game allows you to extend the background of images, without any special effects. The director tightens the focal length at the same time as he steps, which has the consequence of stretching the sets without anything else changing on the screen. The process called “Vertigo Effect”, in reference to the feature film by Alfred Hitchcock which popularized it in 1958, gives a very scary printing of Surlace.
French research seems to suffer from the same optical illusion. It looks like she is moving forward, she even accelerates, she is an undeniable fact, but in reality, she is back on the international scene. While the number of French scientific publications has never been so important as so far, France continues to lose places among the most producing nations. As taken in one of the famous endless Hollywood corridors.
In 2018, France, a country of science if there is one, was among the six most important countries in this area. It is now only positioned in 13th position, a decline of seven places, in just a few years. A phenomenon qualified “erosion”, by the authors of this classification, the scientists of the Observatory of Sciences and Techniques (OST), a public body which produces each year a report on the question.
The emergence of China, India and Brazil
A flight forward, which is first explained by the arrival of emerging countries on the market for the production of knowledge. “By developing, China, much more populated, but also India, Brazil or to a lesser extent Iran have gradually invested in research, which has led to an increase in articles coming from this part of the world,” said Frédérique Sachwald, director of the OST, interviewed on the occasion of The publication of the last editionmid-February.
Let the French reassure themselves: long first, the United States has thus seen its hegemony melt from year to year, because of these mechanical effects. In 2018, they even passed behind China, their big rival. The country, whose technological innovation is at the heart of growth, is particularly proactive in this area. Now, around 25 % of scientific contributions produced worldwide come from China. The United States still contributes 15 %, but France fell to around 2 %
The fact remains that the global context does not explain everything. France has lost its superb well, no special effects in there. Nations, in size and comparable resources, are doing better than it faces these reconfigurations. Countries like Italy, South Korea, Spain, Australia, and Canada have passed it in recent years. “France is cut from year to year. It is a dynamic that must be concerned,” said Frédérique Sachwald.
More science, better science?
More production does not necessarily mean more impact, or a better quality search. “Many countries, such as Spain, Italy, or Poland have set up incentives from the 2000s.” Easy “publications, placed in unsuccessful journals, have soared, but the scientific contribution remained relatively the same”, nuance Paolo Crosetto, economist at INRAE, specialist in the field.
Germany, 5th, has not implemented this kind of figure policy. However, it has lost only a place in the procession of nations. The United Kingdom is also resistant. He only gives in a position, and finished 3rd, while he still pays the consequences of his exit from the European Union in matters of scientific cooperation and attractiveness. If we only retain the most influential science, that published in the journals the most cited 10 %, the observation is better, but remains not very happy. France finished 8th, it has returned three places since 2005. Germany does not move 4th.
Costed analyzes have the disadvantage of only delivering partial observations. Science is a complex industry, it is not just a few aggregated indicators. But the specialists still advance explanations to interpret these disappointing results. France, an economic power less influential than in the past, also seems to suffer from its French -language scientific tradition, even if the vast majority of its work are published in English. “France has a scientific functioning still a little more island than certain competitors in Europe, which reduces its influence and its attractiveness,” explains Paolo Crosetto.
Bureaucracy and under-investment
Also in question: important organizational difficulties. Scientists on the territory keep repeating it, it is sometimes difficult to do research in France, as the steps are time -consuming, and the institutions to be seized, numerous. In front of them, the administration is often suspicious or overwhelmed, numerous reports – whose Gillet report published in 2023 – attest to it.
Also, France sometimes invests less. “Research expenses and developments in public administrations are around 0.9 % of GDP in Germany against 0.8 % in France,” said Frédérique Sachwald. Here again, the explanation does not say everything: the United Kingdom has a relatively low expenditure compared to its performance, and is nevertheless among the best in the world all the ways.
These results should not delight the government, inclined to show itself to work on this theme. During his two quinquenats, Emmanuel Macron continued to promise more attractive and efficient research, strongly supporting innovation. While some indicators are still green – universities are progressing in rankings, and France outperforms in certain areas such as mathematics or quantum physics -, the big boom announced therefore did not take place.
Brexit, this missed act
The fault, in part, to a missed opportunity: by leaving the European Union, the United Kingdom temporarily left a large space in other European countries. France could have taken advantage of it, to obtain more funding from the European Union. What was done in part, but again, Germany benefited the most, according to the report of the OST. The Ministry of Research itself saddened it, in a mid-January published report, relating to one of the frame programs, called Horizon Europe.
If France is the second beneficiary, “the volume of proposals and deposits in coordination more particularly remain insufficient, limiting its potential”, underlines the ministry. Understand: tricolor scientists pass the selection relatively well, but often give up on. “French researchers may wrongly think that they do not have the level, or prefer to turn to national, less prestigious, but less demanding funding,” decrypts Frédérique Sachwald.
Result, if we count the scholarships of the European Research Council, the most selective, France totaled in 2022 only 1,400 projects obtained, against 2,100 for Germany, one third more. Our neighbors won an average of 28 % additional credits in 2018, compared to only 8 % in France. Specialists agree that there are no miracle measures. Science sometimes requires wasting time, missing, before paying off. The fact remains that according to them, France could do more, especially to attract brains, the nerve of scientific competition.
There is another possible explanation of French results here: a large part of the hexagonal “talents” officers from abroad. Their exploits are therefore not counted as French science, even if they advance global knowledge. Bringing them back, which the French government began to do with the rekindling program France 2023 could change the situation.
The great dismantling of science in the United States, Brazil or Argentina, undertaken by the far right and populist governments, should help the executive in his foot calls. Large host country after the Second World War, the United States’s censorship policy could push part of the scholars to the exodus. Many scientists have seized French institutions, to prepare the ground. Still they would have to obtain sufficiently ambitious funding: governments according to dissolution have all wanted to cut in scientific expenditure. They have so far changed their minds.
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