Interview: Alain fuchs You have just been reappointed for another four years as president of the CNRS. What do you think were the milestones of your first term? Our organization, which has been active on the scientific scene for 75 years, has secured and retained a prominent position worldwide. In my opinion, this consistency represents its most impressive achievement. The illustrious founders of the CNRS—Jean Perrin, whose memory we honored in 2013 on the 100th anniversary of the publication of his work Les Atomes, and Jean Zay1, the thenminister of Education whose remains will be laid to rest in the Panthéon—would have every reason to be proud. Maintaining such a high standard is no mean feat in today's hyper globalized research context. New players are getting involved in basic research and attaining high levels of excellence. I do not see this as a cause for concern—on the contrary: good science benefits everyone, no matter what its source. But while we do not share the pessimistic view that “France is on the decline”, we are conscious that our nation must now face new competitors with substantial investment capacities, whereas France, like most developed countries, is confronted with a difficult financial situation. “The CNRS remains the world’s leading scientific player.” Would you say that science indicators are still positive? We remain the world’s top-ranking organization in terms of scientific publications, with an annual total of about 43,000 on average2. This remarkable productivity stems from the combined effort of some 1,100 CNRS-affiliated laboratories, most of which are joint units with our academic partners. Once again this year, the dedication and enthusiasm of our researchers, engineers and technicians resulted in a wealth of published findings and discoveries. Without becoming obsessed with rankings, I should also emphasize that the CNRS is still among the Thomson Reuters Top 100 Global Innovators, a rather exclusive club including multinationals like Alcatel Lucent, Arkema and EADS. The 750 startups launched over the past 15 years—80% of which are still in operation—the thousands of patents registered by our researchers, and our organization’s investment in France's technology transfer companies (SATT) all testify to the contribution of basic research to our country’s economic development and wellbeing, which we take pride in. For us, these achievements in technology transfer are a starting point and not an end in themselves. We need to improve our performance and we are working in that direction. 4 2013, A year at the CNRS © CNRS Photothèque - Francis Vernhet CNRS president Alain Fuchs looks back at the highlights of 2013, a year that marked the end of his first term at the head of the organization.
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