Shaping France’s new research landscape ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11 The Bordeaux site agreement in the spotlight ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The first CNRS site agreement targets the Aquitaine region. “Bordeaux was a natural choice for many reasons,” says Patrick Netter, CNRS Senior Scientific Director for the Aquitaine research cluster. “The first is to do with timing: it made sense to inaugurate the new policy with a site that was part of the first wave of agreements between universities and the French Ministry for Higher Education and Research. Secondly, the Aquitaine is a laureate of the Investments for the Future program (IA), and more specifically an Idex from the first selection. Finally, this is an academic site that plans to merge several research and higher education institutions into a single entity.” This first agreement required the University of Bordeaux PRES and the seven EESRs involved to define scientific priorities, pooling strategies, and operating procedures. “By identifying common research fields, we were able to replace bilateral agreements between CNRS and each institution with a single document covering the entire region,” says Christophe Giraud, CNRS Regional Representative in Aquitaine. “This simplification was essential and is directly in line with the collaboration initiated by the IA. It is a strategic partnership not only from a scientific perspective but also at the administrative level since it inaugurates shared governance – and from an operational standpoint as it integrates management and budget procedures.” CNRS had to adapt its operations to effectively support these site policies. “Now our mission is to implement this joint scientific strategy while respecting the priorities and characteristics of each signatory,” says Michel Mortier, Deputy Senior Scientific Director. “To do so, CNRS has developed a variety of tools such as site PEPS intended to foster the emergence of multidisciplinary projects. We have also adapted the selection procedures for academics in regional offices to reflect the priorities of Aquitaine,” Patrick Netter points out. “Through these actions, CNRS contributes to the emergence of France’s research universities of the 21st century.” On December 4, 2012, CNRS and higher education and research institutions in the Aquitaine region finalized a five-year site agreement to develop ambitious research programs based on a common scientific policy. 2012 A year at CNRS “The new regional organization that we are devising makes French research more coherent and promotes its European and international integration.” Joël Bertrand, Chief Research Officer
RA2012_en
To see the actual publication please follow the link above